Why is it that the idea of “mental illness” is so much scarier to many people than any other illness? We talk freely about cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, yet whisper about Bipolar Disorder, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Of course the media portrayal of these illnesses doesn’t help, but surely there must be more to it than that.

While the “physical illnesses” mentioned above are seen as diseases that happen to us, the “mental illnesses” are perceived as us. We get heart disease, but we are bipolar. We get cancer, but we are obsessive-compulsive. Heart disease and cancer are separate from us. Bipolar Disorder and OCD are us. Indeed, many people mistakenly believe that those with “mental illnesses” typically have no insight or understanding as to what is going on with them.