As always, I really appreciate the voice you use to highlight this issue. You have a very sympathetic but reasonable tone, which is something I am working on. If I care about an issue, sometimes reason flies out the window. I am right on board with the idea of educating the public. I've struggled with major general anxiety and social anxiety since I was in second grade. Can you imagine how much better thing would be if our friends had been learning about mental health stuff since kindergarten? Even with the social anxiety issues, I care strongly enough about that idea that I've been bringing it up at parent meetings since my oldest started school. The good news is that the attitude among parents has gone from an audible groan to at least a few parents enthusiastically agreeing that kids should start learning about this super young, eventually erasing (or at least lessening) the stigma. I also agree that we've a made throwaway comments not thinking they hurt anyone, but man, your friend really threw a fastball to the gut. I loved the end of your first paragraph; Yes, it is anything but weak to learn how to live in a world where life itself triggers your symptoms.