Crazy, It's Not What It Seems

This week is National Suicide Awareness Week and yesterday kickstarted it off by women writing "love" on their arms. The non profit organization To Write Love On Her Arms has stated that today is the day where we aim to change the stigmas on mental illness.

We've all heard the phrase "my girl is crazy". Fellas, what you think of as crazy is normal in comparison to the women who face coming to terms with the depressing thoughts that run rampid through their brains. Plus, did you ever stop to think that maybe there's a reason your girl is so crazy? It certainly didn't just happen, and she wasn't born that way.

Mental illness is something that cannot always be pinpointed. Some studies will show that mental illness is a product of one's environment while others show that women are genetically prone to mental illness. I believe that there is no definite answer, that in some situations, it is a byproduct of environment, that situations occur that make women doubt themselves, and ultimately as you guys say, just go crazy.

Women are emotionally dependent, and when we invest our hearts into someone or something, we do so with the full intent of being a part of it. Take myself for example. I have become insecure because of past relationships. When that insecurity increases, my tolerance for things unknown decreases, and not knowing is the thing that drives me crazy. Not having a clue, a lack of knowledge, is what really gets my mind reeling.

There are many women who have been in far worse situations than I have, but the point is, when we are broken down, when our psyches have been tampered with, when our insecurities show, we begin to lose bits and pieces of our sanity. When we are taken out of routine, we have to find ways to cope. We are not as adaptable as men are, and it shows, and it is evident. That girl that you think is crazy, has been damaged by the person who came into her life before you. You have a fragile person in your hands, and the way to understand her, is to get to know her, to talk to her, to support her and be there for her.

Mental illness is not a plague that is contagious, it is a plague to the person who experiences it. It takes over a lifestyle, it prohibits the mind from functioning on a day to day basis, it is an overwhelming feeling of lost self-control. We need to change the way we look at someone who may be depressed, who may be delusional, who may be volatile, and we need to discover the cause behind the problem. We need not judge these people based on their current status, because prior to that, these people most likely had everything together, only for it to quickly fall apart. The stronger ones are those who can rebuild themselves after being knocked down, those who can patch their insecurities, their psyches and their mind. They've overcome mental illness, they've stayed strong, they've gotten through it. Write love on her arms and show her that it's really going to be ok.