What is Mental Illness?

Have you or anyone else ever said someone looks retarded? What did they look like? Were you describing their clothes or their hair, maybe their glasses or smile? Calling someone retarded is ridiculous. People don't ask for a mental illness, and it’s nothing to joke about. People who have one are born or develop their mental illness; there is no right or wrong way that people look. What are some of the major mental illnesses? 

• Mood disorders that affect how one feels, such as Depression and Bi-polar.
• Anxiety which makes one feels anxious about impending danger or feeling ill at ease. Examples include Obsessive-compulsive disorder, Phobias and Post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Psychotic disorders which are characterized by detachment from reality, such as Schizophrenia
• Cognitive disorders affect one’s ability to think and reason, such as Dementia and Alzheimer's disease
• Developmental disorders which typically begin at a young age include ADHD and Autism.
• Personality disorders includes unhealthy behavior that causes problems in one’s life, examples include Borderline Personality disorder and Antisocial Personality disorder.
• Other disorders that include disorders of impulse control sleep, sexual functioning and eating. Also included are dissociative disorders, in which your sense of self is disrupted, and somatoform disorders, in which there are physical symptoms with no clear cause, such as Munchausen syndrome.

Mental illness does not have an appearance, you have no right to judge anyone. I just ask next time before you judge someone, think about your implications and actions. Words really do sting. They've had enough of a hard life, please be kind. I treat people the way I wish to be treated, with respect and love.