mental variation

I've never been tested to be officially diagnosed with any particular mental "illness." I feel like the stigma of it is starting to lift, but still is very present in our culture. So this post is meant to be my own stab at that culture and a step towards living more honestly and wholeheartedly.

Eight years ago, I recognized as I was going through psychological training that I've been coping with mild to moderate depression since age 14, and I've recently, post therapy, considered that I experience mild ADD/ADHD and have a slightly schizotypal personality. It's such a hard call to make (and sometimes people don't believe me, I think, because I haven't been officially diagnosed) because putting people in boxes never works; yet, these labels explain a lot about how I think and how I react to life.

Articles like this make me wonder if I've been fortunate enough, without realizing it, to have kind mentors and friends and enough inner wisdom to develop coping mechanisms that let me live a fairly normal life. Regardless, my compassion grows for all the people society has cast out, neglected, ignored, ostracized, shamed, and abused through our history. Here's to all of us finding a way to bring everyone to the human table.

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/20-things-remember-you-love-person-with-add.html

(I'm also left wondering whether we don't *all* have some form of mental "illness" that should just be accepted as *mental variation.*)