Stigmatized

This blog is already two years old. But I never had the courage to share this to my family and friends. There were times that I would attempt to put the URL site to my Instagram and Twitter accounts but after a short while, I would delete it.

The reason for not making this publicly known to my circle of friends is quite obvious. I am afraid to be (mis)judged. The stigma many people have attached for mental illnesses is something I am not ready to publicly break. I am a member of a respectable family. I am a teacher by profession. I am part of a supposedly "normal" world where only "normal" people are accepted. And to be part of this judgmental world where eccentric actuations such as getting angry in the public, being anxious when surrounded by people, getting obsessive-compulsive about something trivial, or feeling extremely sad for no reason are considered as MADNESS, it is difficult to move your way around and tell everyone, "Stop judging! You don't know and will probably never know how it would feel to be in their situation!" Because when you do just that, you may be called as also mad. Sad, right?

What's even more sad is when you can only start understanding them when a member of your family or your loved one is a victim of such a mental illness that led to suicide. Take this story for an example:

CNN Article: I was an accomplice to my brother's suicide

In the article, mental illness was something the sister took seriously only when her brother was already gone.

It's probably an insane dream where the world just seems more accepting and less judgmental of mental illnesses.

But still, I look forward to that day, when I can write a book about my own fight against depression and not be afraid of being judged by my own family and loved ones.