Most illnesses that people have firsthand knowledge of is the cold or the flu and when we get a bad flu, we have to call in sick to school or work. Some Asprin, bed rest and sneezing later, we return to our schedule of working and school work and maybe a bit behind, but we manage to catch up.
But less common for us are mental illnesses. We all probably can think of someone who has severe anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), depression, or maybe someone who is bipolar. Getting through a mental illness can much harder than a physical. There’s medication and therapy, but we can’t rely on it to cure us, just assist us.
For depression, therapists always recommend consistent patterns and schedules for the patients. And the same advice is given to people with OCD. And bipolar disorder. They tell the person to not break that pattern unless it is for a new cycle of events.
My point is, many people suffer from a variety of mental illnesses. Some are far more serious and those people require and deserve the best help we can give. If they wake up and the anxiety is hindering them more than usual, we as a society should be able to tell them “you’re stronger than that! You can live your life, with or without this anxiety stopping you!” A key to recover is finally being able to assimilate back into public without letting your condition stop you, no matter how bad. We have to let them feel like a part of society in order for themselves to feel that as well. If they feel discouraged to attend school due to depression, we encourage them.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t allow them days where they can go to therapy or get help, but we should work a schedule around that and keep to that schedule, and for better or for worse we follow it and hope for the best.