📝 Update Note (July 11, 2026): When I first wrote this, I included a model of depression and anxiety which has since been updated. After a major review in 2022, the scientific community revised their “chemical imbalance” explanation to include a more holistic understanding of these diseases. What most of us had been taught for decades was no longer a simple question of serotonin imbalance. It was now a complex, whole-body involvement with trauma, inflammation, genetics, diet, and more. Therefore, I have chosen not to delete or hide this original article, but to bring it up to date. I’ve rewritten the scientific portions below to reflect our current understanding of depression. The rest of it stands unchanged: mental illness is very real, physical, and never shameful illness. Carry on! ♥
Here’s something Americans do not discuss enough: mental illness, like depression and anxiety. Therefore, I am going to talk about it, and I am also going to do so VERY LOUDLY, because I spent so many years being quiet, and that cost me a great deal of time and pain. I want to spare others from that. So here we go!
If you are suffering for more than a few days from strong emotions like pain, anger, sadness, hopelessness, worry, fear, or anything else you cannot control, you may be experiencing a real disease. You may also be a teenager. It is not your imagination. And it is not something for which you should be judged, nor judge yourself!
Mental illness is a real condition–a real disease–with real, physical roots in your brain and body. Yes! Anxiety and depression are diseases, just like diabetes.
What Are Depression and Anxiety?
Okay, before we begin, let’s do some quick definitions. There’s a difference between “being sad” and “being depressed.” Also, you can feel some “pre-work jitters” and not have an “anxiety disorder.”
It is perfectly normal for every human being to feel strong emotions like sadness, fear, anger, etc. from time to time. In contrast, the terms “depression” and “anxiety disorder” come into play when you experience these strong emotions (or complete lack thereof!) for more than a few days… especially if they are adversely affecting your life, and/or you are unable to overcome the emotions in order to resume your normal state of being.
(No, I do not have a source for that definition. That is Floxmonster™’s Rule-of-Paw. And no, I am not a doctor, so if you do feel any of the above, I urge you absolutely to seek out a medical professional! It never hurts to ask, “Hey, do you think I’m depressed?”)
Anxiety and Depression Discussion
In this entry, I am discussing primarily depression and anxiety, because a.) I know them best, and b.) they are so widespread. You will also see that I lump “anxiety” and “depression” into the same handbasket. That is because, in many cases, they appear to share overlapping biological roots (more on that below).
You Can Pick Your Friends but Not Your Family
Moreover, you can find in the same family with anxiety and depression, disorders such as: PTSD (“Post Traumatic Stress Injury”), panic disorder (similar but stronger than anxiety), postpartum disorders (typically associated with giving birth), and “suicidal ideation” (meaning you think about killing yourself lots). Quite a family, huh? I would skip the reunions for that one!
That said, let’s talk about how mental illness affects us all.
Depression & Anxiety Are Everywhere
Mental illness impacts a stunning percentage of Americans. The respected Johns Hopkins Medicine has found that a whopping 9.5% of Americans have major depression, and 18% have anxiety disorders1.
How does that translate? Well, picture this: more or less, If you are sitting in a restaurant with 10 people, one may not give a crap what’s on the menu and two may want to run away.
Think About It
Think about those statistics for a moment. Even if some of those percentages overlap (that is, if we assume some of the people who have anxiety also have depression) it still means a gigantic group of ordinary people is suffering from mental disease.
At the original time of this posting, the Population Clock put the U.S. population at 332,894,885 people. That means 31,625,014 Americans (9.5%) had depression. 31 million!
Now (July 11, 2026) the Population Clock reads 342,653,080 people. And the Johns Hopkins website still reads the same percentage, so that means 32.6 million people now!
That really puts a new light on going out in public, doesn’t it? Take a moment to look around: mothers, fathers, waiters, movie ticket-takers… everybody. Mental illness is all around us.
Therefore, I want to address something very important, which presents problems for nearly all who suffer anxiety, depression, and other mental conditions.
Break the Silence
In American society, even though we have progressed greatly in recent years, we still do not talk about mental illness or emotional disorders as openly as we should.There is still a significant stigma and reluctance to discuss depression, anxiety, and especially suicide. Because of that, many people suffer silently without help–sometimes for years, sometimes even for decades. (Trust me, I know exactly what I am talking about, here!)
People suffering from mental illness may hide it out of shame, family pressure, or perhaps fear of social retribution. What I mean is, they are ashamed of being sick, or their families tell them not to say anything, or they’re afraid of being called crazy! Sometimes they might even be afraid of losing their homes or their jobs (with or without reasons).
The point is, there are far too many people who do not seek out, accept, or receive the treatment they so desperately need for mental/emotional illness. We need to fix that, right away.
We must change Society’s Stigma, Now!
I survived my years of silence, to say this: Our social stigma, fear, and avoidance of treatment needs to change, right now. As a culture, we need to accept mental illness as the genuine disease it is. This illness is not “just in our heads.” It is not some random “craziness.” It is not some “passing strangeness” that will “just go away.” Mental illness is a real disease!
As a society, we all need to foster open, healthy communication. What I mean is, we need to encourage everyone to talk about illnesses like anxiety and depression, without fear of being criticized, called crazy, or losing our jobs. Our society does not, at present, always offer that opportunity. People cannot discuss mental illness openly. Our neighbors still may criticize them, our family still may look down upon it as shameful, and our jobs–especially those with a government clearance–can still be threatened if mental illness is exposed. We need to change that, right now!
No One Criticizes Diabetics
To illustrate my point, I will use the case of diabetes. Everyone agrees diabetes is a real disease–a measurable, physical breakdown in how our bodies handle blood sugar. Diabetes is very serious and can even lead to death. For those reasons, when diabetics show up at a pharmacy, no one criticizes them when they pick up the medications they need. No one even bats an eye.
By comparison, anxiety and depression are also serious diseases with real, measurable biology behind them. Depression and anxiety are also serious conditions which can lead (indirectly) to death, by way of suicide.
Why, then, should anyone care when depressed people pick up antidepressants to balance the chemicals in our brains? What is the difference?
And yet, there is often a stigma with antidepressants. Some people criticize those who take antidepressants… as if that might be some sign of weakness, or something that the depressed/anxious people ought to overcome on our own.
Oh yes, can we overcome it on our own? Well, does anyone expect diabetics to overcome high sugar levels on their own? NO. Of course not! That’s ridiculous.
What is the issue, then? Because mental illness is the exact same situation.
Depression and Diabetes May Be Linked
In fact, here’s an interesting take: a growing body of research indicates that depression and diabetes may even be linked. The common factor appears to be inflammation. When the body carries a consistent, low-grade immune response, it can cause all sorts of problems.
Statistically speaking, having diabetes roughly doubles your risk of depression. Likewise, having depression raises your risk of developing diabetes. Neither one is “caused by” the other, but they feed each other, through the same inflammatory pathway.
The research on that is still new, and I don’t want to get on a tangent. But if you want more evidence that depression is a real disease, look it up. You can see for yourself!
Depression/Anxiety = Real Disease!
To clarify, let me explain: Depression and anxiety are real, physical illnesses — the same way diabetes is a real, physical illness. Here’s the more accurate picture of what’s going on, based on where the science stands today:
For decades, scientists and doctors assured us that “low serotonin causes depression.” It turns out that story was too simple. A major 2022 review of the evidence found no convincing proof that depression is explained by just low serotonin. Now, that doesn’t mean antidepressants don’t work (because they clearly help a lot of people, including me) but it does mean we were wrong about why.
What the research does point to now is bigger and far more interesting than a single broken chemical:
- Whole nerve circuits, not one chemical. It’s less about the level of any one brain chemical and more about how entire networks of nerve cells connect, grow, and communicate.
- Whole body, not just brain. Depression involves the immune system, the endocrine (hormone) system, metabolism, and more, all interacting with the brain (not the brain in isolation).
- Genetics, but nuanced. There’s a real inherited component, and researchers are mapping it down to specific cell types and genetic variants. Way past “it just runs in the family.”
- Life circumstances. Trauma, loss, stress, poverty, and loneliness can absolutely be part of creating depression and anxiety. They aren’t just “triggers” for an underlying imbalance. They appear to be legitimate causal factors in their own right.
So, depression and anxiety are not “in your head” in the dismissive sense. They’re also not caused by some lonely broken chemical waiting around for a pill to fix it. They are a real, physical, whole-system phenomenon: genetics, brain circuitry, immune and hormonal function, and life experience, all tangled up together. That’s more legitimate as a disease, not less.
Mental Illness is a Disease
So you see, this process is very much like any other kind of disease that we, as humans, can experience. There is a measurable, physical basis for it. Sometimes the condition resolves itself with time, support, and lifestyle changes. Sometimes it requires the additional lift of medical treatment. Either way, mental illness is just another kind of illness we can treat with tools. It is not magic or hoodoo. It’s a disease.
Grasp Reality
My last point is this: Our society MUST grasp this reality, as quickly as possible. Mental illness has real, physical causes. We no longer live in a place where demons cause depression, a woman’s wandering uterus creates “hysteria,” and Tourette’s is possession by the Devil. Welcome, World… meet Science.
In conclusion, mental illness is a real, physical disease. Period. Let’s ditch the Dark Ages, and develop some real compassion for those who live with it.
(Note: I moved the coping methods to their own category: COPING.)
And remember… if things get too tough – Dial 988 and talk to an emergency crisis counselor!
♥ FloxMonster™
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