Argumentative Essay On Mental Illness

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No one ever thinks that mental illness is going to affect their lives. It seems like such a serious and devastating illness to have to battle with. I know I did not used to think mental illness would affect my life, but then it did. I had always been a bit of an anxious child, a nerves nelly you may say. Then when I was 16, my anxiety grew into more of a life altering illness than a small annoyance and I became depressed as well. Once I began to open up about my feelings I found out that mental illness ran in my family. It turned out that most of the women from my mom’s side of the family suffered from depression and anxiety. With my family’s support, I turned to many different sources for treatment. I saw a psychiatrist, went on medication, …show more content…

I started with medications and looked up statistics on the population that takes them for mental illness. Most of my research led specifically to antidepressant use. I found that “11% of Americans 12 years and over report taking antidepressants” and that “in 2010, antidepressants were the second most commonly prescribed medication in the United States” (CNN). It seemed to me at this point that medications seemed to be the best option. It is what the majority of people suffering from mental health do, and it is something I have taken since my issues occurred. After all, mental illness is just like any other illness, you are sick. When someone has a broken leg they will take medications for the pain, so shouldn’t people do the same thing with mental pain? I started to look up different antidepressants and medications for treating mental illness. I also began to reflect back on the many commercials on TV that are for antidepressants. They always seem to have long lists of possible side effects. That began to make me skeptical about mediation as treatment. It was strange to me that in many cases the same thing that is supposed to cure an illness enhances that same illness. At the same time, I know of many people, including myself where medication is quite

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