Stigma of Mental Illness

The author uses a narrator who suffers with depression and anxiety as the main character to address many stigmas associated with mental illness. The stigmas include the belief that the mentally ill are crazy and cannot be trusted. Also, some believe that mental problems are not a sickness..

Because Lo is on antidepressants to stabilize her chemically caused depression and panic attacks, assumptions are made about her based on her disorder, her life, and the medicine she takes. Nilsson is one who assumes that Lo is not trustworthy because of her depression. Even though her depression was caused by nothing traumatic, even therapists search Lo’s history hoping to find what triggered her depression. Despite the fact that there is nothing in Lo’s past that accounts for her mental illness, she is still dependent upon medication to keep her moods stable. She...