Frankenstein Mental Illness Analysis

Understanding the Realities of Mental Illness Mental illness is an aspect of society that many would rather ignore or forget, especially if it is misunderstood. Some would go as far as saying the mentally ill are monsters, similar to the infamous creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Those who understand the struggles of the mentally ill know this to be false, but what about those who do not understand? Often times, mental illness is not understood due to the lack of accurate knowledge available to the general public. Being educated about what others go through when battling mental illness can help to better understand that they are not the monsters they are often thought to be. People with mental illnesses are not monsters because; mental illnesses are serious conditions that affect all aspects of life, the mentally ill are suffering, and people who are suffering with mental illness are sometimes unaware of their actions as well as the consequences of those actions. Often times, the mentally ill will receive comments from others about how their condition is all in their head so they should simply “get over it.” In a
Manic episodes -lasting for several days and often occurring in various types of bipolar disorder- are a good example of this. One symptom of a manic episode is inflated self-esteem, so it would be difficult to determine if the person having a manic episode is actually suffering or not. In the long term, manic episodes have extensive negative effects on the body and mind. Often times when someone is having one of these episodes, they do not sleep for more than a few hours at a time, sometimes with days in between rest. It is also common to participate in pleasurable and exciting activities which have the potential to result in painful consequences such as; unsafe sexual encounters, and indiscriminate spending or