Mental illness can impact a person’s day-to-day life which often makes regular everyday tasks feel overwhelming. Conditions like depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder can disrupt multiple things including your sleep schedule, how you do on work/school performances, and even personal relationships whether it’s friends, family, or significant others, this can leave the person feeling alone and isolated. It’s hard to go through every day feeling different than the people around you or not even knowing if anyone could possibly relate to what you’re feeling.

People with mental health challenges may find themselves isolated, exhausted, or even unable to function in certain situations which can lead to a cycle of frustration and further mental distress. Many people don’t see this happening leading them to not understand the severity of this and making it harder for people struggling to seek help or get support. Dealing with these struggles can affect a person so much not just mentally. In the article, futuresrecoveryhealthcare, it talks about how,” It’s also largely overlooked or unlearned that mental health is strongly linked to physical health.” It goes on to list multiple examples that can happen to someone who’s struggling including developing strokes, type 2 diabetes, and even heart disease. 

It’s hard for people with depression to go through life everyday day. Depression can cause a lack of energy or motivation, making the simplest tasks like getting out of bed, eating, showering or even brushing your teeth feel hard. One of the biggest mental illnesses other than depression is anxiety. Anxiety can lead to having a persistent fear or worry, making it difficult to focus or enjoy the good things in life. Many people may not know it but anxiety can lead to serious things even if it’s seen as a small issue. According to the article, Anxiety disorders – Better Health Channel, “An anxiety disorder may lead to social isolation and clinical depression and can impair a person’s ability to work, study and do routine activities. It may also hurt relationships with friends, family, and colleagues.” It is common for people with depression to experience anxiety and the other way around as well, which makes it even harder for people to get through their days.

Another big problem with having to deal with mental illness is all the negative stigmas about it.. According to, https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/stigma-and-discrimination, “More than half of people with mental illness don’t receive help for their disorders.” So many people who need help don’t ask for it because they’re afraid they are going to get judged for it or they’re afraid they are going to get treated differently. Some people don’t understand what it feels like or the severity of the issue which is what leads to them saying stuff. There are also many incorrect displays of mental illness all over social media, giving people the wrong ideas and portraying false images of what people actually have to go through. There are many negative effects stigma can have on a person including, “reluctance to seek help or treatment and reduced likelihood of staying with treatment, social isolation, lack of understanding by family, friends, coworkers, or others, Fewer opportunities for work, school or social activities or trouble finding housing, Bullying, physical violence or harassment, and even contributing to the belief that you’ll never succeed at certain challenges or that you can’t improve your situation.” There are so many negative effects that can be thrown on you because someone doesn’t have an open mind or a better understanding of a topic.

Recognizing the ways mental health can shape your life and affect it is crucial for people to give empathy, reduce stigmas, and encourage people to talk about how they feel. By acknowledging these things we can learn how to better support those who are affected and make a better inclusive environment for everyone.