Mental Health At Exeter

Mental illness at Exeter is a topic that seems to be talked about all the time, yet simultaneously not at all. The stigma behind it still stands. Why? Our mental state affects us every day. Why are people so afraid about talking about it in depth? Stories of prep spring health classes filled with people saying they would never date someone with depression because of the baggage still float around. People with mental illnesses can be shamed for their mental state, and people without mental illnesses find it hard to understand what it is like to be mentally ill. The stigma behind mental illness can be derived from a few things. Unless someone shows you a CAT scan of his or her brain, how can you tell if a mental illness exists? Someone can see the cast on your arm and know it’s broken, but how does someone put themselves into the mindset of another person with depression or anxiety when he or she may never know how it feels? When you sprain your ankle, there will always be a nurse there to bandage it up and give you medicine to alleviate the pain. When someone is having a constant battle within his or her mind, no one will know when or how to treat it. Unless you go out and get the therapy or medication you need, there is little likelihood someone is going to mistake “bad moods” for depression and furthermore try to help in the right way. And even if you do get help, you go to the health center and find support through therapy until deciding to look into the possibility of medication. What about the guardians who don’t believe that mental illness is real, that it is all for attention or something to do with teenage angst? How do those kids get better?Furthermore, problems lie in the idea that all people with mental illness are dangerous. The concern is that they are dangerous to other people, not themselves. The main priority is helping people without mental illness deal with people who have mental illness, which is something our campus is fighting hard to change. The fear of going to the health center to get help because one might be afraid of being sent on medical leave is something that needs to change. No one should have to be afraid of getting help, being judged for getting help or being ashamed of getting help for something that so many people are afflicted with.Beyond that, one should never feel that going on medical leave for mental illness to take care of oneself is not a valuable cause. Exeter promotes that your well-being is what comes first. Medical leave isn’t intended to be seen among our campus as a procedure for crazy people, and it is not strategized as a way to gang up on people with mental illness. It is intended to allow people to get the help they need. A person who struggles with mental illness is no less of a person than someone who doesn’t, and people with mental illnesses should not be deemed troublesome. Faculty, students and anyone outside of our campus can all potentially struggle with mental illness in their lifetime. For the people who do struggle with mental illness, helping to make sure they get the support they need and knowing that they are not alone proves that the stigma behind mental illness should be erased.