Mike CernovichVerified account

And there's a huge stigma attached with mental illness, and I'll tell you why. No one is really supposed to talk authentically about it, because someone will get hurt. Here's what I mean...

I was never the same after visiting my mom at the mental institution. I felt...alone. As if I could never rely on another adult. That's not something a parent would want to hear. And yet it's my experience and my reality. Any truth on these issues will be hurtful.

Every mental health issue is a catch-22. Does a parent want to know their child may look at them differently if the parent is in an institution? How much must that hurt. I can't comprehend it. And yet I did feel different. I felt alone and on my own after that visit.

And there’s a huge fear of people to reach out when they are having a mental health episode. Everyone really cares about mental health when a celebrity commits suicide, but day to day? You’re supposed to keep this stuff to yourself.

If you let people know about a mental illness, they will use it against you. People have tried used my mom’s bipolar against me. The only people sicker than those with real conditions are everyone else.

Whenever I write about my mom’s bipolar and childhood experiences with it... So many people have similar stories. Mental health is a major issue that we’re not supposed to talk about. Until someone commits suicide or OD’s. As a society we need to grow up a bit. Or a lot.

Mental health issues don’t get written or spoken about because those most qualified to speak about them and who lived them are also least prepared for the hate. The attacks will come. And so people hide under the covers with the curtains drawn hoping the gloom goes away.

It’s hard to not say my childhood influenced my politics. What do you do about the mentally ill? What I hear from so many, “They should have saved up for the medical bills!” The glibness with which serious issues are treated has always troubled me.