One of the big problems with mental health is that it’s aggravated by bruising that you can’t see. If someone came up to you and gave you a paper cut every day for the next 3 years, you’d show some major scars and there would certainly be enough evidence to gain some sympathy. All the interactions you have in your day can also have a cumulative effect on the mind.
We can have laws or corporate rules or whatever but at the end of the day people just have to stop being so lousy to one another. Obviously this means there shouldn’t be people screaming at each other but it’s a lot more than that. It’s also the little things: don’t cut in lines, don’t be a jerk in traffic, don’t eat stinky meals in the middle of crowds, don’t get in peoples’ way or be generally oblivious to what’s around you, etc. These are all the “paper cuts” of the mind, gradually aggravating people day after day until they just can’t handle it anymore.
I say this with as much compassion as possible (though it's going to be hard to sound that way over the Internet). A lot of those aggravations are more perceived than actual, thanks to the mental illness itself. You could say "how's it going, buddy" to a depressed and a non-depressed person, and the non-depressed person could see it as a genuine and caring remark and the depressed person could see it as sarcastic or uncaring or whatever. A depressed person could see someone cutting lanes as a jerk, a non-depressed person may see them as in a rush and busy.
Depression is something that colors the entire world dark and gray. It turns a bunch of normal remarks into thousands of little papercuts. No one is right or wrong here, but for a depressed person, understanding how depression colors the world can be useful.
"If someone came up to you and gave you a paper cut every day for the next 3 years, you’d show some major scars and there would certainly be enough evidence to gain some sympathy."
Actually, I think folks would talk behind your back and wonder why you put up with the abuse - but they'll generally stay out of it. If you are lucky, they'll call the cops for a checkup.
If you give yourself paper cuts, folks will still talk about you. A few will offer an ear if you need to talk. And some folks will decide to shower you with complements so you stop ruining your body with scars.
Unfortunately, mental health is more horrid than that. It is like watching everyone get a papercut and go on with life, while it cripples you for a day.
We can have laws or corporate rules or whatever but at the end of the day people just have to stop being so lousy to one another. Obviously this means there shouldn’t be people screaming at each other but it’s a lot more than that. It’s also the little things: don’t cut in lines, don’t be a jerk in traffic, don’t eat stinky meals in the middle of crowds, don’t get in peoples’ way or be generally oblivious to what’s around you, etc. These are all the “paper cuts” of the mind, gradually aggravating people day after day until they just can’t handle it anymore.