This morning, my mom and I were on our way to school. The streets were crowded as usual. And like every morning, we spent several minutes at the traffic light. As we did, a woman came into our sight, more or less naked, hair being a mess and all. She was mentally ill. Mom almost cried being the light-hearted woman she is and exclaimed so about how young the woman looks and could be living a normal life instead of out on the streets. I noticed everyone around looking at her with sympathy in their eyes. I just sat there thinking about how society only understands the absolute extremes of mental health. You’re either perfectly fine or you’re insane to the point where you talk to yourself and see things that aren’t there. I don’t mean pity is any important but the understanding is. It’s at least one step closer to the change we crave so much. The littlest things affect the human mindset. Something in front of us goes wrong and we tend to forget everything else going well in life, only cause it’s our nature. Traumatic experiences from recent or distant past are causes of mental disorders. Depression doesn’t come from how big the problem is like we usually think- its a product of feeling helpless or powerless in a world full of problems. Bipolar disorder, anorexia, personality disorders, and everything else we conclude as one general term each has their origins unique to the person experiencing them. We still have a lot to learn, a long way to go, and so does society. So whenever someone tells you they’re not in the mood to do this and that, or when you notice signs of self-harm, be reasonable and understand that it is something way more than serious. ‘You’re faking it’ or ‘you’re weak’ cannot be an answer. We’ve said enough of that already.