“It’s my experience that people are a lot more sympathetic if they can see you hurting, and for the millionth time in my life I wish for measles or smallpox or some other easily understood disease just to make it easier on me and also on them.” ~ Jennifer Niven

Mental illness is not… 

> …your fault

> …a character flaw

> …a sign of weakness

> …a sign of strength

> …something you need to, or can, grow out of

> …trivial

> …something that will just go away if you ignore it

> …something that will go quickly and completely, the way the flu does

> …something to feel guilty about

> …something you need to suffer alone or in silence

> …something you have made up in your head by thinking incorrectly

> …rare

> …a reason to fear somebody

> …guaranteed to last forever

> …something you can tell that a person has by the way they way look, act, or speak

> …a problem that only affects certain types of people

> …necessarily the result of poor parenting

> …a difficulty that prevents everybody who suffers with one from going about their day to life

> …often a reason that someone needs to be hospitalised or that they can’t live independently

> …The end…