Depression is not being sad about not being able to find an outfit to wear to a party.
It is not changing your clothes for 3 days because you can’t bear to leave the house, let alone get out of bed.

Suicidal thoughts are not wanting to kill yourself because you see someone wearing the same outfit as you.
It’s seeing simple everyday things like rope, a knife, a freeway, or pills and thinking that you should kill yourself with them because you just can’t take the pain anymore.

Anxiety is not just being scared for an exam.
It is not being able to make a phone call or feeling so sick from worry for no reason.

Anorexia is not simply forgetting to eat breakfast.
It is dry skin, hair falling out, hospitals and inner torture. It is forcing yourself to have water instead of food, because even fruit has too many calories.

Bipolar is not being really happy for one day, then feeling normal the next.
It is going from euphoria, having your mind racing with rapid speech, to feeling like you want to jump off a bridge.

Retardation is not doing something silly.
It is falling behind in school, not being able to adapt in new situations and having little social skills.

So please don’t take mental illnesses lightly;
they are one of the heaviest burdens to bear.