Some years ago, I checked myself into a local facility for outpatient mental health treatment. Following that, I spent some time undergoing extremely intensive trauma therapy and other mental health procedures. I was relatively open about that entire experience with my family, but was way too ashamed to make much mention of it to my friends, co-workers, employer, recovery community, etc. Even then, despite my own difficulty navigating some of the shame I felt, I wanted nothing more than to help normalize treatment, especially for those struggling with PTSD and other trauma from childhood sexual abuse. I also wanted to help some of my friends and loved ones who were struggling from combat PTSD after returning from the horrors of war.
Years later, I am glad we've begun to reach a point where people normalize opening up about their childhood sexual trauma and are encouraged to get help for it. It is a better world when we are compassionate. I'm so thrilled to see that veterans getting treatment for PTSD is acceptable and encouraged. We see it in war movies, it's talked about at the Super Bowl, and generally most people will just nod sympathetically and talk about how brave it is to get help in almost any situation. I wish I had that kind of support system when I was deconstructing and getting help, but I am just glad it is in place for most folks now.
Don't get me wrong, there's still plenty of stigma attached to it, but not nearly as much as there used to be. That being said, scrolling the internet or having conversations with people around the topic of mental health shows me that there is still plenty of work to do. We *must* destigmatize *all* mental illness in a similar fashion.
Amanda Bynes didn't choose to have a mental illness anymore than I did. My struggles aren't magically more heroic or noble than hers. I cannot imagine my seeking and receiving treatment being reported by major news outlets across the country and thousands weighing in on it with shitty, cruel, comedic takes. If you mock her or laugh at her, just understand that you're laughing at and mocking every single person who has ever had to deal with the life-changing symptoms of mental illness. From a combat vet in your family to a friend who has suffered horrific childhood sexual abuse, to any and all in between.
The fact that we still view someone's mental health crisis as a spectacle, as some kind of circus for our personal amusement, is evidence of a very deep cultural rot that continues to permeate the ongoing dialogue about mental health in this country. The cancerous core of that rot is our outright refusal to view other human beings as other actual, living, breathing human beings. Walk a mile in the shoes of the afflicted, and see if a few hits of dopamine as you endlessly scroll social media is worth it. Be better.
And if you're struggling, don't listen to the voices in your head or the voices of the cruel and cynical degenerates. You matter, you are worthy of love and you Can Heal. I promise.
