What is unseen is also an illness

Anxiety, depression, or an eating disorder do not leave a visible mark, and that is why it is so hard to take them seriously. The person suffering often adds guilt: "this shouldn't happen to me", "maybe I am weak", "with more faith it would go away". And that guilt leads them to hide it and carry it alone. Yet falling ill on the inside is genuinely being ill. It is neither a lack of willpower nor a lack of faith, just as a bone fracture is not. Prayer helps, and a great deal, but prayer does not replace going to the doctor when what has broken is the mind or the spirit. That is why asking for help is not giving up: it is doing the same thing you would do with any other illness. Telling someone you trust, looking for a professional, letting others support you. You do not have to manage alone, and you are not failing because you cannot.