Sydney+W’s+2017+OpEd+Article



Why the Heck You Should Care About Mental Illness By Sydney Wilkov

I decided to go to school as little as I have to. I drive home during lunch. I don’t stay past two unless I have practice. I don’t talk to my teachers unless I have to. And nobody has noticed. Isn’t that odd? People tell you that you’re important, that you can make a difference, but I’m pretty sure that you’re skimming over this because I don’t stand out and I’m not one of those teens you think will change the world. No, this isn’t a teenage rant about how I don’t matter, this is me telling you what it’s like to live with anxiety and depression, two contradicting forces that plague my mind and will continue to tear my consciousness apart for decades to come.

I wake up in the morning worrying about my day, but I’m also too exhausted to move. When I finally get out of bed, I am faced with a dilemma; what kind of shirt do I wear today? This probably seems ridiculous to you. You probably think that my problems are petty, but this is actually a very important decision in my day. When I pick out a shirt, I’m really asking myself, ‘Do I want people to see my scars today?’ Or if I had a bad night, ‘Do I want people to see my cuts?’

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I bet you think I’m one of those depressed emo kids who cuts themselves and wears a lot of eyeliner in private and listens to My Chemical Romance. I’m not, I’m actually an optimist. If you’ve ever had a legitimate conversation with me, you probably know that I’m very passionate about social action, and I care about making the world a better place. So now that I’ve “shocked” you with my mental state, let me show you why the heck you should care.

20% of people under 18 suffer from depression, and 25% of people under 18 are affected by anxiety. There are about 40 people in my AP English class, so that means that 10 of them have anxiety and 8 have depression. Pretty freaky, huh? Mental illness seems like this far off, intangible concept. We hear about it all of the time in the media, but it’s not mentioned in most of our health courses, and if you don’t have it, then you probably don’t understand it. The most common symptom of depression in people our age is actually agitation and irritability, not sadness. I’m not saying that because certain people in my class are rude they must be suffering from a mental illness, I’m saying that this is a sign. If there’s a friend or student (in Mr. Fitz’s case) that has suddenly become distant, “salty”, or seems to have lost all motivation, they may be going down a dark path and it’s important to recognize those signs and be concerned, not attribute them to “simple teenage hormones”.

While most people get help, some don’t. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among high schoolers and most of these deaths can be prevented. 80% of people under 18 who commit suicide show clear warning signs beforehand. California had a 2016 suicide rate of 10.46 for every 100,000 people; taking this statistic and applying it to Ventura with a population of 108,961 people, we would have 12 people commit suicide this upcoming year. And 90% of people who committed suicide in 2016 had a treatable psychiatric disorder.

If you’ve made it this far instead of just skimming over this article, kudos to you. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask. It is so important to start this conversation, and if our health curriculums or our teachers won’t do it, then we have to. Mental illness shouldn’t be ignored, it is here to stay. Let’s create a generation where knowing that we’re wanted is the norm.

Note: I have gotten help, my parents know, I have gotten the resources I need.