Over the years, there has been an upsurge in cases of mental illnesses. It is unclear whether the growing numbers of mental health patients is as a result of enlightenment in matters pertaining mental health or an indication of a failing society. It is indeed provable that over the years, more information and scientific research has been directed towards mental illnesses as compared to the past. A section of today's society recognizes the plight of mentally ill patients. However, a majority of the members of the society have a distorted perception of the issue of mental health and mentally ill patients. I fall into the category that has a difficult time understanding mental illness. Consequently, I have developed several biases or judgments regarding this type of illness as I shall address below.
First, I regard mental illness as a condition within the control of the individual that suffers from it. I tend to hold to the idea that mental illness is a state of the mind that can be altered by the individual to improve or rather get over a particular mental condition that passes as an illness. Just like it's possible to shift from being in a sad emotional state to a happy state by altering what the mind focuses on, I tend to believe that the same is possible for persons suffering from any form of mental illness.