Lion's Pride Volume 13 (Spring 2020) Volume 13 (Spring 2020) | Page 14

Living with An Invisible Illness Rachel Mary Snee Accepting and embracing my mental illnesses has been challenging, insensible and impeccable. I always had an idea of what “normalcy” was in society, and I knew depressive states weren’t a part of that image. I was often stuck in an anxious manifestation of reality reinforced by the exploitation and degradation by those closest to me. This cycle destroyed my self-image and depleted my self-respect, which led me to darker places. This is the truth in mental illness: judging others for their feelings and actions does not help. I needed loving support, and fortunately I learned how to fight for that. Craving knowledge for the sake of safety. Hiding from truth. Hoarding information that’s readily available. Cuddling fear. Fear sprouting into willful ignorance. Consumed. Hate. Distrust. Criticism. Assumption. Categorize people and put limits on their character until they aren’t people anymore! Failure of critical thinking. Failure of interpersonal analyzation. Failure of education on historical truths. Failure of empathetic understanding. Upon discovering something new and unacceptable, we deny, deny, deny! This is wrong. This is bad. This is crazy. You are wrong. You are bad. You are crazy.