Glory Busic, Reporter
According to The National Alliance on Mental Illnesses, a mental illness is a condition that affects a person’s thinking, feeling, or mood. According to a recent survey sent out by the Riptide to Vashon High School students, 96 percent of people know someone with a mental illness.
The most common mental illnesses in teenagers are anxiety, eating disorders, and depression said Christine Clancy, a therapist.
According to the Mayo Clinic website found on Dec. 7, depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest.
“Sometimes it is a victory for me to even make it to school, let alone get out of bed,” said a survey respondent with depression and anxiety.
This is caused by a common symptom of depression in teens, lack of energy, which can lead to poor attendance in school, according to the Mayo Clinic’s website.
Often depression leads to thoughts of self-harm — including cutting, burning, and alcohol abuse — which can lead to suicidal thoughts. The New York Daily News said that one in twelve teens have attempted suicide.
“It doesn’t change who I am,” said a survey respondent, who reported having attention-deficit disorder, depression, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and seasonal affective disorder.
Often people with mental disorders are judged by others on their disability. However, as stated by the anonymous survey respondent above, their illness doesn’t change who they are as a person, although it may change how they view themselves or handle situations.
The most common mental illnesses at VHS are anxiety, depression, and seasonal affective disorder.
“When I’m in class, it’s sometimes hard for me to ask for help when I don’t understand something because I’m anxious that people will think I’m stupid,” said a survey respondent dealing with anxiety.
Anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder are the main three eating disorders. Out of those, anorexia is the most common. According to the Mayo Clinic, anorexia is an eating disorder characterized by an abnormally low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight, and a distorted perception of body weight. People with anorexia often starve themselves and work out intensely.
“Sometimes I have to act a different way just to show that I don’t have a mental illness,” said a survey respondent who has anorexia.
Binge eating disorder is when a person consumes unusually large amounts of food and feel as if they are unable to stop eating, according to the Mayo Clinic’s website. It also defines bulimia as a person binging and then purging.
One mental illness that isn’t thought about a lot at the high school setting is PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) because often people only hear about veterans having it after war.
“PTSD isn’t just for veterans,” said a survey respondent who reported having PTSD. “I personally am a survivor of sexual assault. I wish people would stop joking around about rape and sexual assault because you never know who might have had an experience with it.”
Because people hide their mental illnesses, they can be suffering and still have smiles on their face.
“Kindness goes a long way,” said a survey respondent.
