When a person has a physical illness, it is often readily apparent to see. They will often look sick. A mental illness does not have this component. You cannot look at me and know I have bipolar disorder type 1. I have to tell you, or you have to get to know me over time and witness the variations in my behavior.
Since it does not appear physically but instead shows itself in behavior, mental illness is often believed to be controllable. Because it shows up as behaviors, it is often seen as learned. Since it’s learned, surely it can be unlearned and fixed easily. The sad truth is that the abnormal behavior cannot be unlearned or easily fixed. It often takes medication and lots of therapy over many years. The medication component can take a lot of trial and error, too, in order to get the right kind. It’s quite difficult.
I work as an advocate for de-stigmatizing mental illness. I live with the stigma and see it constantly. I personally see internalized stigma hurt the mentally ill as well. Release from stigma is my life’s work.