Part of what makes mental illness difficult for people is that they are painfully aware of it yet unable to communicate it. Thats why people often do not have an incredible amount of empathy for those folks, rather usually laughed at. Most people with mental illnesses are far more aware of their intricacies than the observer, but they cannot convey it in a way an observer can understand as the observer has no frame of reference. It’s like taking LSD and explaining to someone who never has, what’s happening in your mind.