The world entered a collective state of shock when news of Robin Williams’ suicide broke.
He didn’t seem depressed.
How could Williams, the electric and confident comedian who made us laugh countless times, take his own life?
But the truth is, depression doesn’t fit into a neat little box. Neither does anxiety, addiction, bipolar disorder or any other mental illness.
Our preconceptions tell us they do, though, and we freak out when those ideas are challenged.
So we just don’t think or talk about them. People who live with these disorders are forced to endure, not only the extreme stress of having a mental illness, but also scrutiny and sideways glances from people who don’t understand them.
More importantly, they are made to feel alone.
This year, SGA created a task force to assess the long-term mental health needs of the student body and the new Miss Homecoming campaigned on a platform that focused on mental health.
But there’s still a stigma that surrounds these conditions and it will remain there until we start talking, openly and honestly, about them.
As a society, mental illness makes us uncomfortable and we don’t want to talk about things that make us feel that way. When we’re silent, though, people who live with these disorders feel like they’re suffering by themselves.
They’re not.
Almost one-third of college students report having felt so depressed they had trouble functioning, according to Active Minds. More than 80 percent said they felt overwhelmed and 45 percent felt things were hopeless.
More than 1,000 college-aged students die of suicide each year and more than half of college students have had suicidal thoughts.
Five Auburn students have ended their lives in 2015 alone.
It’s time to start communicating. It’s the only way to erase these stigmas and stereotypes completely.
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