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Riki's picture

"Who does depression hurt? Everyone."

"If the mind is, indeed, within the brain, which is within the body, is there a point at which the inextricable link between them can be seen as integral in “illness” and not just mental “illness.”"

I like this idea and I think it's very important for people to realize that mental illnesses manifest themselves very physically. Take anxiety -- someone will have racing thoughts maybe about others' negative reactions towards them and might think things like, "I'm going to die. It will be so embarrassing." And all the while their heart is racing, they are sweating, they feel nauseous, they can't stop shaking, they can't breathe, and so on. How can you call that strictly mental?

I also thought about that commercial for an antidepressant which says, "Where does depression hurt?...Everywhere." How many times has someone complained of "unexplained" physical pains only to receive the response, "It's all in your head"? People need to stop thinking that some illnesses are just "all in your head" and therefore aren't legitimate. 

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