I totally get this. Physical stuff is easy to accept but mental health problems are so much worse because they are not as visible. That's why I refer to them as my "demons" and give them a physicality and realness which makes it easier to deal with

I think this is because when someone says "illness," we automatically can grasp how difficult it is. When we get a broken arm, we have all of these solid facts and evidence that we can tangibly see, right? But no one sees the mind. They might not even know emotional symptoms because no physical symptoms means healthy.

I think sometimes we worry about what maybe “others” grasp as our mental illness. It’s all about how we accept it. Being diagnosed bipolar was actually a relief because it was the equivalent of finding out my arm was broken. Now I had a plan. Try to accept that if you are diagnosed YOU are still YOU.

What helped me was my psych stopping with labeling. I'm sza but I don't think of me being sza as much as I think of me as a person with a certain set of symptoms