The stigma: Why does it exist?
Students with mental illness are often faced with an immense stigma that often prevents them from being able to seek help, or even wanting to seek help in the first place for fear of judgment. The stigma that appears to surround students that have mental illnesses is that they are viewed as weak and incapable of handling stress or anxiety, and that they should just "get over it".
However, this is entirely untrue and misleading. People affected by depression, especially college students, are unable to deal with stress in a successful and positive way. While some of us are able to shake it off and get through it, often those affected by depression are unmotivated and are often so anxious that they do not even know where to begin. They feel as if their life is worthless and there is no point in succeeding: they already feel as if they have failed. The stigma that people with depression are weak is only preventing those who have the illness from seeking treatment and does nothing constructive to help combat this illness.
However, this is entirely untrue and misleading. People affected by depression, especially college students, are unable to deal with stress in a successful and positive way. While some of us are able to shake it off and get through it, often those affected by depression are unmotivated and are often so anxious that they do not even know where to begin. They feel as if their life is worthless and there is no point in succeeding: they already feel as if they have failed. The stigma that people with depression are weak is only preventing those who have the illness from seeking treatment and does nothing constructive to help combat this illness.