Mental health awareness means talking about all types of mental illness

Mental illness is incredibly common: almost one in five adults in the United States lives with mental illness, according to the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH). But despite its prevalence, there is still a tremendous amount of stigma badociated with mental health issues. This stigma can have serious consequences, ranging from limiting our understanding of these conditions to the interference of a person's desire to seek care when they really need it.

The good news is that culturally, we are making progress in the fight against stigma. I've been writing and editing health content for just over 10 years, and it's amazing how the conversation about mental health has evolved over this period. Many courageous people have publicly shared stories about their experiences in managing mental health issues. And, while the welfare industry has exploded, our cultural understanding has also evolved: to be healthy and take care of yourself, one must look after one's mental health, which means asking help if you need it.

It's no longer shocking when a celebrity talks with a therapist, or with depression or anxiety. This is partly because we have made progress in standardizing these elements and pointing out that they are incredibly common and that there is no need to be ashamed. There is still work to be done, of course, but there are also good reasons to be optimistic. We are going in the right direction.

That said, some mental health issues are still largely in the shadows, with an uneven share of awareness and attention. One such condition is bipolar disorder.

That worries me because March 30 is World Bipolar Day.

The mission of this day is to raise awareness about bipolar disorder and eliminate social stigma. Bipolar disorder is one of the most misunderstood mental illnesses, and the confusion that surrounds it continues as we progress in the way we talk about other mental health issues. Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder characterized by significant changes in mood and energy, according to the NIMH. These changes are called "mood episodes" and can take many forms, although the two main types are manic episodes and depressive episodes. There are several types of bipolar disorder, each depending on the symptoms that one feels, the severity, the duration and the combination of these symptoms.

Bipolar disorder is a complex, multi-faceted mental illness that can have a significant impact on a person's daily life. So why is not the time and space allocated to anxiety and depression in our collective conversations about mental health?

Anxiety and depression are certainly among the most common mental illnesses. While an estimate 31.1 percent In the United States, adults will have an anxiety disorder, an estimated number of 4.4% will have bipolar disorder. It may be a much smaller slice of our population, but it is still millions of people affected by the disease.

Of course, this does not mean that the work of fighting stigma around anxiety and depression is over; it's more of a call to action to bring that energy to other mental health issues.

At SELF, we strive to speak about the nuances of mental health issues not only during awareness days, but throughout the calendar year. In recent months, we have made real efforts to create more content on a broader range of mental health issues, including: bipolar disorder. This includes talking about basics (like essential facts that people should know about bipolar disorder) as well as real stories of people living with the disease (such as this personal essay on what we feel at the psychosis experiencewhich is a symptom for some people with bipolar disorder). But the conversation should not stop there. We do our best to give really useful information to people with bipolar disorder, which means writing about treatment, symptomshow to deal with mood episodesand how navigate the side effects of drugs.

Beyond bipolar disorder, we are also working to better address other highly stigmatized and misunderstood mental health issues, such as schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, and OCD, among others.

I am proud of the work that we have done in this space and the stories we have mentioned and to which we have given a platform. But I am also aware that this is just the beginning and that we can and must do much more, and that we must strive to tell many more stories. The goal of SELF is to help people feel better. To fulfill this mission, we must do everything in our power to raise public awareness and eliminate stigma throughout the year – exactly what World Bipolar Day requires.

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