“Mental illness 

People assume you aren’t sick 
unless they see the sickness on your skin 
like scars forming a map of all the ways, you’re hurting. 

My heart is a prison of Have you tried? 
Have you tried exercising? Have you tried eating better? 
Have you tried not being sad, not being sick? 
Have you tried being more like me? 
Have you tried shutting up? 

Yes, I have tried. Yes, I am still trying, 
and yes, I am still sick. 

Sometimes monsters are invisible, and 
sometimes demons attack you from the inside. 
Just because you cannot see the claws and the teeth 
does not mean they aren’t ripping through me. 
Pain does not need to be seen to be felt. 

Telling me there is no problem 
won’t solve the problem. 

This is not how miracles are born. 
This is not how sickness works.” 

- The First Step, by Emm Roy, 2014

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Mental health within individuals of all ages has, unfortunately, always had a stigma throughout the years. The negative attitudes and beliefs towards individuals with such cases have enabled society to discriminate. The way in which we do not know or understand the circumstances is the main factor to why this is still happening to this day; more awareness is needed regarding such a sensitive topic at hand, otherwise, nothing will change.