How do you see the world? What do you think the world sees when it looks at you? This paper will show the toll this society takes on some people’s mental health, creating a personal nightmare. Every day, more and more people struggle with mental disorders, and this is how it’s like.
The world can be an ugly place just how it is now, but what would it look like with paranoia? Everything has eyes, and they’re all on you. An eerie sense of dread and sorrow follow you wherever you go. Your thoughts zap back and forth. A voice in your head always tells you “They’re watching,” “You’re not good enough.” Left unchecked, this will lead to clinical depression. Thoughts of suicide drown out what little positivity was left in someone’s mind.
The eyes become real. The thoughts become actions. Everything around the person starts crumbling. The only thing they’re able to do is watch as their world falls apart. A voice reaches out to them. It holds out a hand as it says,”I can help take all the pain away.” It takes them to a magical place where they feel happy. For once in their life, they enjoy themself. Nothing could ever be better, until one day, the voice goes away. All the happiness they once felt leaves along with it. All of their passion gets drained from their heart. The only thing they think about is making themself look better to the eyes of society.
They look in a mirror and are disgusted by what they see. Their stomach is too fat. Their legs are too big. They start to skip meals, trying to slim down. Every time they look in the mirror, they still see the creature they once saw. Numbers, it all came down to the numbers. They have a folder, it’s like a checkbook to them. It keeps track of all the numbers. Every little calorie means everything to them. Mints and gum become their grace. Although that 10 calories, is too much so they break off a piece and only eat it.
Even that one calorie can be the difference between being skinny and seeming fat in their eyes.
They say they’re not hungry, but they can’t deny their body. The starvation is killing them on the inside but they’re so obsessed with being thin that they don’t care. They just want to look perfect, but that is a goal they know they can never reach, but yet they try so desperately every day to accomplish this. That wod is a savior in their eyes, because they see t every day, but it kills them slowly every day.
Every minute detail is exaggerated in their eyes. They become isolated from the outside world. They do not want anybody to look at them. They’re hideous. Something nobody should ever see. They become trapped in a cycle. They go deeper, and deeper. Each time, they desperately reach out their hand, waiting, hoping someone, somewhere, will reach out theirs. They feel like nobody will ever save them, so they start to isolate themself from the rest of the world. Maybe a certain someone should’ve held their hand out sooner, instead of hesitating about it. They say “I’m fine,” but they’re not fine, I promise. They become so damaged that they can ignore the pain, because they’ve gotten so used to having it.
Nobody ever asks to have a mental illness. Some families have a long history of mental illnesses, so they are simply born having one. Most mental illnesses are caused by substance abuse, whether it be by the person, or the person’s parents, while other times it is caused by a negative environment. This can include being bullied, neglected, or even abused by their parents as a young child. This means that there are ways to stop someone from developing a mental illness.
Ways to prevent this includes building up the person’s self esteem. Tell the person that being thin or large doesn’t matter. Accept them for who they are rather than how they look. Make it easier for the person to express their true self around you in order to take some stress off of them. Create a more positive environment for the person to be in. Give the person the idea that nobody is perfect, therefore, why should they be perfect. The idea that “the perfect looks” is to be ultra thin is embedded in young children’s minds, so it helps to give them the idea that it doesn’t matter what they look like, but rather how they act.
A study in 2001 found that around 4% of Americans suffer from paranoia, or Paranoid Personality Disorder. It was also shown that around 15% of Americans suffer from at least one personality disorder, including OCD(7.9%) and Antisocial Personality Disorder (3.6%). This means that around 30 million Americans suffer from a disorder that can make their life a nightmare.
It was also found that around 30 million people in the U.S. suffer from an eating disorder. This is one of the deadliest mental illnesses, with the highest mortality rate of any other mental illness. Every one in five anorexia deaths is by suicide, and nearly half of bulimia patients suffer from an anxiety disorder. Diabulimia is found to increase mortality risk threefold.
If the world can create a more positive and accepting environment, then it will be exponentially less likely that people will develop these kinds of illnesses. It is important to remember that most mental illnesses and disorders are created from the environment a person is surrounded by. If you see a person having trouble connecting with people, talk to them. If someone looks like they’re suffering, help, for any help would more than likely be greatly appreciated. Do not be afraid to hold out a helping hand, but just remember that if you do, to never let go, or you might just lose the person you let go of. Lead the path to a better world for someone who needs it.
