No, Mental Ilness Cannot be Treated the Same Way as Physical Illness

There is no magic potion and the medication that does exist doesn't work on its own.

I profoundly disagree with people such as Alastair Campbell who persistently argue that depression or bipolar disorder is just like cancer or diabetes. It simply isn't and I know this because I have been there, with mental illness, and I am still in the recovery process.

If it was like cancer or diabetes then it would be curable with just medication. But it isn't, at least not from my experience. You have to work at it, put in the effort and if you mess it up you will learn from it.

It’s not easy; but, the only thing you need is practice.

For the past 2 years I've been on numerous medications: Fluoxetine, Sodium Valproate, Olanzapine, Risperidone and Mirtazapine.

But... I made one regrettable mistake: I relied on my medication for 100% of the time. But since Saturday the 12th September I initiated a revolution. A personal revolution. A revolution of the heart and the mind.

The aim of the revolution was to get more active politically and socially. As Aristotle famously said 'Man is a political and social animal'. Now I am much more active, not just in the world of sport but also in keeping myself busy as much as possible. However, Aristotle simultaneously says that the objective should also be to balance life, to achieve the 'golden mean', not go from one extreme to the other e.g. two extremes of confidence are shy and rude.

This has helped me massively, these are only the early days of my personal revolution but I hope that I will continue on this new and revolutionary pathway.

I know that everyone is different, I completely accept this fact; but, please try this. The only reason I shared this experience is to help other who are suffering the excruciating pain I and other people are battling against.

By: Muhammed Hussain, Politics, Philosophy and Sociology student at Coombe Sixth Form.