I couldn't help but feel outraged while watching an episode of Dr. Phil yesterday. I will not disagree with the fact that 'doctor shows' make a great attempt at helping people and offering them resources that may be unavailable in their communities or that they're unable to afford. But at what point does it become exploiting to the guests needing help?

A lot of people perceive mental illness to be a burden and it's that perception that only furthers the stigma and prevents people from seeking treatment. But I believe my mental illness has helped to shape my life in a very positive fashion.

In order to put an end to a problem such as stigma you must first identify the origin of the problem and ask why it exists. What is it that we with mental illness say or do that makes others treat us negatively therefore creating stigma? I recently had to ask myself this question.

Maybe it's just me but I feel that, as a society our vocabulary is a little less filtered then what it was 10 or 15 years ago. Are we so crunched for time that we no longer think about what we say and how it could affect others before we say it? I began to wonder...what words or phrases do we say or use everyday that offend those who have mental health difficulties?

I don't like thinking of my mental illness as baggage, but everybody has skeletons in their closet and there are certain things that have happened to us in our lives we may not disclose immediately. But nonetheless, living with mental illness proves to be difficult when you're like me and on the online, gay dating circuit.

Recent statistics show that at least one in five of us will have some sort of mental illness over the course of our lifetime. My hope is that there can come a point when it won't matter that you live with mental illness. But until then the best way to reduce stigma is to talk and educate yourself. The more often we have a discussion, the more we learn.

A new study from the University of Michigan's School of Public Health has found that doctors are far less likely to prescribe antidepressants to Afric...