Why is mental illness still considered "taboo"?

For me, mental illness is taboo because it is messy. I have been dealing with it for over half my life and I don't even fully understand it. It is difficult to understand what causes it and how to fix it, if it can even be fixed. The complexity and variety of issues is actually pretty remarkable. With people who know me, I no longer have issues telling them about my issues. I think it improves relationships to have that level of honesty. However, I hate the thought of being labeled by those who don't know me or my issues. A checked box on a form is rather demoralizing for me.

I think it is something that people still feel really uncomfortable with. Just today someone made a joke to me about us all ending up in a mental institution after an 8 hour day of grading exams. He had no idea that I was already panicked about the day grading and was scared I was not going to make it through.

I've been told by many hours say "wow, 4 kids and a single mother that works full time, you have it so put together and always happy!" but what they don't see is that every day is a struggle, an argument with myself about whether I'm going to make it threw announcer day or not. I want so badly to put my hands up and say "I give up someone else take over" and take me away from this life and bring me somewhere where I don't have to be too strong and always look like I have all the answers.

I am still learning how to deal with this crazy life I've been dealt and I know deep in my heart that in the end it will all be worth it! On to the next challenge in life! Surviving puberty! Wish me luck everyone.

I think it's because people still don't want to accept the fact that mental illness is actually an illness.

I think it's because people don't know how to react. It's too "depressing" for them to deal with someone who's mentally ill, because there's nothing they can do to help in the moment. "Cheer up" doesn't work

@IndigoRoses I feel this in an extremely personal level. My mother suffered from panic attacks followed by depression. It's been 5 years and she still didn't get the proper treatment. Until last year she used to say that therapy was for crazy, disturbed people. She had so many prejudices, and finding out the truth somehow made her shrink. She doesn't she herself as a better person now, because she was wrong. I think this says a lot to me. She can't stand the fact she was wrong, and she would deny till death that she is wrong about so many other things.

And all the distorted ideas I see on people around me are very alike that. They are content with the things the know because dogmas give people the truth, a truth they supposedly can't be questioned, the ultimate truth. That gives people a feeling of power, like they know better than everyone else. You can see that especially in extremely religious people.

I feel personally attacked by these things. How could someone be so selfish that they need to feel superior all the time, neglect illness, poverty and so many other things just to feel powerful? Sadly, that's how many people are...

I see this movement towards making mental illness awareness in order to help others understand it better and know there are others out there who share in their suffering. I think that's a noble intention, however it also can marginalize those brave people who step forward and identify with having an illness. It makes more sense to me to remove the labels and pathologies which isolate the mental health community. The truth is that we all have situations where we have or will experience different forms of attention deficits, social awkwardness, sadness, nervousness, dissociation and breaks from reality. That is what the community should know in my opinion. Leave the technical terms to the professionals and the insurance companies. It has no place in the mainstream.

TRIGGER WARNING

I hate how mental illness is still considered tabo, like statically 1 in 3 of the entire population will experience it and have to seek professional help. I suppose that people don't understand. It is one of the most complex things. For example anxiety you can still be happy and worry. Why don't people take the time? Perhaps maybe if people took the time maybe the statistic would be lower and there wouldn't be such a high rate of suicide.

I think that mental illness is taboo because not everyone understands it. Even people suffering from it may not understand it. Its an individual thing, steming from all kinds of factors that differ from person to person, and the fact that its such a vague, broad spectrum that doesn't always have an effective treatment and a difinitive cause means that mental illness is set aside.

People find it hard to understand what's beyond the normal human brain functioning. They just simplify it with their labels and stigmatization despite how complicated our behaviors are. See.. How in the world can we justify ourselves to them, if they see us through their labels, like being weak. I hate how they simplify it. If only they knew how similar it is to cancer. How it eats you from the inside until there's nothing left of you.