[jeffreybaird]

Author here.

> I am not trying to diminish this person's personal experience nor fail to have empathy.

You did.

> However, "incredibly stressed about the state of the world" is itself a sign of poor mental state, and I think that it paradoxically is harmful to make this sort of statement so casually in an an article ostensibly supposed to bring awareness and understanding of states of mind.

This entire piece is about my mental illness, so great observation.

> We normalize extreme emotional reactions too much. It prevents many from understanding that they have an inability to cope with daily life, for whatever reason that may be.

I agree that I have a mental illness, I fail to understand how that wasn't already abundently clear in the piece. The normalization of talking about mental health is the goal here.

Comments like this only add to the overwhelming messaging that mental illness is something we should be ashamed of. I would encourage you to refrain from commenting in the future.

[tcj_phx]

I enjoyed reading your story of the mental hospital. I've spent too much time visiting my friend at the mental hospitals over the past year and a half. They refused to treat her substance abuse problems, and gave her drugs that made her more depressed than before.

Lots of mental problems stem from a suboptimal metabolism. My latest shipment of t3 thyroid medication just arrived from Mexico... ;)