One of my main reasons for blogging is to shine some light on mental illness. We live in a world where we can talk “face to face” across the globe, order food online and have it show up at our door, and have answers to virtually every question at our fingertips, but when it comes to social awareness and education of mental illness, we might as well be living in the dark ages. Or a Monty Python movie, where someone is yelling, “Bring out your dead!”

Hi, my name is Tami and I have MDD or Major Depressive Disorder. And I’m not ashamed of that. It’s also not contagious. Or a character flaw. Or because I don’t have enough faith to be healed. My brain just uses serotonin faster than your brain. I figure I’m half-Asian-it’s just classic overachieving! (Actually, there is a correlation between overachievers and MDD.)

Unfortunately, some people don’t even bother to listen past the diagnosis. They slap on a label and write me off, along with millions of other people who will deal with this disease at some point in their lives. So, here are three ways I think we can help to slay the stigma that surrounds mental illness.

REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE NOT YOUR DIAGNOSIS

This feels like a no-brainer, right? But what other group of diseases in medicine is used so frequently as descriptions of our states of being? Nobody says “I am cancer” or “I am heart disease” or “I am high blood pressure”. It is just a disease or condition they have not what they are. I know there are a few exceptions like “I am diabetic”, but for the most part, people see themselves separate from their disease. With mental illness, it’s like we’re conditioned to say, ” I’m depressed, anxious, anorexic, bulimic, bipolar.” So divorce your identity from your disease. It’s not you.

BE DELIBERATE IN THE WAY YOU SPEAK ABOUT YOUR DISEASE

Words have POWER. They can uplift and inspire, or degrade and demean. The words we use, we must choose thoughtfully, especially in this day of tweeting and regramming and viral everything. But mostly because YOU hear them over and over. Think about words that have been appropriated by like, say, cancer. Cancer patients “battle” cancer and are “warriors”. They never “struggle with cancer”. But when we hear about MDD, “so-and-so struggles with depression” is an all too familiar refrain. Why is one disease battled with, and one only struggled with? Is the patient less brave, worthy or warrior-like? I think it takes so much courage to deal with MDD. No one brings you casseroles, or holds a 5k for you and for lots of us it’s chronic. With cancer, most of the time you get better, or die. And even then, you have ” bravely fought a battle with cancer”. I’m not trying to sound harsh or bitter, just real about the way the use of a few simple words influences the differing narrative our society believes about these two diseases.

JUST TALK ABOUT IT

I don’t mean you need to tell everyone you meet in the first five seconds, but it shouldn’t be something you hold back. We are not lepers who need to wear bells. I know it’s uncomfortable sometimes. And yeah, I’ve had people treat me differently. Or visibly step back. (Seriously, people? It’s not contagious. I’m not thrilled that you bring your nasty flu germs out in public, but I don’t shun you for it.) My own mother treats me like I’m slightly mentally disabled. It’s not fun to have my opinions and thoughts invalidated because “Oh, you’re just depressed…”. No, I’m not depressed. I HAVE MDD. Two separate things. She’s almost 80 and I can’t change her mind, but I can help slay some of the stigma out there. So help me out. Be a slayer! Let’s shine some light on mental illness and show people the warriors among us! Let me know if you have some other great ideas on how to slay!