No One is Perfect, Students Taught Not to Judge in "Fear No People" Lecture Series
Shanna L. Rasmussen Staff Reporter
Issue date: 10/6/05 Section: News
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Szabo aimed to diminish the stigma given to people with mental illness.
Szabo, a survivor of mental illness, was able to connect with students as he explained mental illness and told his personal story.
"I learned a lot," said Maria Valdivieso, junior, Elisabeth, N.J., "I learned that no one is perfect. You can't judge someone by looking at them because something could be bothering them inside."
Szabo, an all-American-looking young man, told students that you couldn't tell if someone has a mental illness just by looking at them. They are amongst the school population and many people will never know.
Szabo suffered from mental illness throughout his life. He was exposed to it early on at the age of 11 when his brother first suffered from manic depression.
By the time Szabo was 16 he also fell victim to manic depression and while in high school he tried to commit suicide.
Szabo explained that he had trouble dealing with emotion as many people do.
"People think talking about emotion makes them weak," said Szabo, "The earlier we learn how to deal with thoughts and emotion, the better off we will be."
Szabo received treatment throughout high school and then into college, but he wanted to make a point to say that medicine doesn't heal mental illness.
"The [medicines] lift and stabilize your mood so you can fix the problem," said Szabo, "Your brain is just as much a part of your body as anything else."
Szabo went on to explain that walking on crutches after breaking a leg does not heal the leg, it just changes the circumstances so you can work on healing it.
"Our brains react the same way through physical pain as they do during mental pain," said Szabo, "The only difference is with physical pain you can identify the cause."
Szabo relapsed into manic depression, also known as bipolar disorder, when he was in college. He was forced to leave college twice before he graduated. He began to mask his problem by using alcohol and it only pulled him further from reality.
"People use drugs, drink and hurt themselves to hide from their problems," said Szabo.