One of the biggest stereotypes I had to put up with in school was that all depressed people slit their wrists and want to die. People who are having suicidal thoughts should not take those lightly but there's a big difference between posting on Facebook or twitter "Oh no one listens to me so I want to die" and thinking to yourself "I see no other way out of this apart from dying".
It's been 3 years since my diagnosis and even an attempt at Cognitive Behavioural therapy and yet still I am suffering and being treated as if I am the one in the wrong. I am not in the wrong because something is wrong with me and I am not in the wrong because therapy didn't work and neither are you if you suffer from anything like this and I feel the general public need to learn that.
It took me around 6 months from diagnosis to actually getting any form of help and people should not be made to wait that long just because they choose to not rely on medication. At least in the UK if not all over the world people need to be made more aware of mental health illnesses and help needs to be more reliable. I know that the NHS has a lot on their plate but having to wait a long time for help severely puts me off wanting to go back now my symptoms have developed again and I doubt I'm the only person in the country who feels like this.
On top of that I feel people need to make more of an effort to respect people who has depression or another mental illness. I mean you wouldn't go to a person in a wheelchair and tell them to man up so why do it to someone whose own brain is the enemy, tests have even proven to some extent that brain chemistry is different in people with and without mental health illnesses.
Now please if you have read this, have a heart and don't tell the next person you see to get over it or man up because it's not always that easy.
