Dear Future President,

I would like to start out by saying that we ,the mentally “insane”, are suffering. No, of course it isn’t physically, but I’ll be one of the first to say that it actually feels that way. Imagine how it feels like to have a depression in which you feel like life is a prison and the only escape is suicide. Your favorite sport, T.V show, or just a hobby, they aren’t your favorites anymore. A schizophrenic that hears the hoot of an owl even if they are at a beach. The feeling of a person following them into the night. A bipolar trying to find out whether they’re happy or sad, if they can actually withstand. Lastly, one with anxiety is trying hard to not overanalyze the way that stranger is acting. Relationships aren’t easy because their mind is somewhere else, thinking til the brain fries. I know that these are just a few mental disorders and that there are more. But, these are the main disorders that are affecting our nation. What can you do? A president is a leader; a person who will make our nation heaven, not hell. We have done some sinister things, but now is the time to stop this. Electric shock therapy and lobotomy are controversial, but remember when the mentally ill had to suffer through asylums? I say this not only because it is unfair, but because the mentally “insane” are actually the majority of our nation.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experience mental illnesses in a given year. That is already 18.5% of the population. The idea of having a person that is mentally ill and is suffering, not only from the actual disorder, but also from society’s judgment. However, even teenagers in schools have to deal with the bullies, homework and trying to just understand themselves. As said by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 1 in 5 youth, aged 13-18, experience a severe mental disorder at some point in their life. How can we live seeing that slightly less than half of the population, in which we live in, is in pain. Your neighbor, a teacher or coworker can be one of the 40% that have a mental illness. As I said, dear president, how can you change the way that we, the mentally insane, are treated, seen and understated.

I believe that the government should place money into a fund for the mentally ill. Since the 1900’s, asylums were treating the mentally ill as experiments, not people. We need to believe that the mentally ill can be cured; they are the future of our nation. No, I am not saying that they are nuisances, but that our future is put into their hands. Our children and teenagers are the future of our environment. They are important, but the adults are our present. They are the workers of our community. Adults are the base of our present society, so why don’t we try to make our nation healthy. America is already becoming physically unhealthy, so mentally unhealthy is not going to become our end.. We need to be able to stop this hell because if this continues, we’ll become nothing but history.

Sincerely, 

Jennifer A