What If People Treated Physical Illness Like Mental Illness?

It’s no secret there’s a serious stigma attached to mental illness. According to the CDC, only 25 percent of people with mental health issues feel that other people are compassionate and sympathetic toward them. It’s a shameful statistic when one in four people have been touched by some form of mental illness.

Experts say that part of the problem when it comes to criticizing someone’s mental health is a lack of empathy and knowledge about the ailments. Yet, despite the staggering evidence and rhetoric aimed at helping people understand, many peoplestill don’t get that being diagnosed with a mental illness isn’t something that’s in their control — just like having the flu, or food poisoning, or cancer isn’t in their control.

In an effort to reframe the conversation, artist Robot Hugs created a comic that displays what it would be like if we discussed physical illnesses in the same way we do mental illnesses. Take a look at the graphic below.

Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.