Some things in life people cannot control, however, the things that cannot be controlled can still be dealt with. In America there are approximately 44.3 million people suffering with mental disorders. That’s about one in every five people. However, like anyone with an illness or disease it is just simple imperfection. People with mental health issues are like people with a quiet visible disability; they don’t want to be viewed as a problem. They want to be just like you and me: seemingly normal.
In my personal opinion, the shooting in Connecticut was a neglect of socialization. I do not believe that Adam Lanza was given the proper attention that he should have been given. Granted this is no excuse or explanation for his outburst. Maybe he was just one conversation away from walking out of his front door and killing innocent people.
Regardless of the what if’s, we must look forward at the what now? What actions can be taken in order to assure oneself of safety? So many people are frightened to the point that they don’t know what to do. The simple solution in my opinion is to converse.
One cannot make the world perfect just by having a conversation but you may never know what a person needs just to get through the day. It can be as simple as smiling at someone on the street as you catch their eye, or asking a classmate how their day is going – even going just a little out of your way to let someone know that their new haircut suits them. You can never measure how far that conversation can take someone.
If someone is comfortable in telling you that they have a mental disability, you should respect them enough to ask questions and do research. It then shows that individual that you are not stereotyping them and really would like to know what ups and downs they go through in a day. Show someone that you aren’t just going to judge them on what you think you know.
No one wants to advertise that they have a disability. It’s often times not even easy and unless you have that same struggle you can never completely understand what that person is going through. Treat them as if there is nothing wrong with them because there isn’t. We must break these barriers of treating someone different just because they look or act different. Just think at some point in history African Americans were slaves and considered unequal. Also at some point in time women were not seen as equal to men. The list can go on but the fact of the matter is at one point we were seen as inferior and we know exactly how it felt to be excluded so we have no right to make anyone else feel that way.
We are all individuals striving to make it in our own way in the same world.
