Most people don’t seem to make the connection between their insecurities and the resulting behaviors: anger, social awkwardness, promiscuity, conformity or watching “Flavor of Love.” People aren’t born dorks or creeps; it’s just an expression of their own insecurity.

It’s not just you who is a complex wad of conflicting emotions — it’s everyone. You can tell how people see strangers differently in the vernacular they use; people are either “cool” or “nuts.” But no one short of delusional would ever ascribe such a one-dimensional label to themselves or those they know well.

Would anyone call Megan Meier nuts? After the heavyset, unpopular 13-year-old was publicly humiliated and called a slut by the “boy” with whom she was awestruck, she hanged herself. The “boy” was actually the vengeful parents of one of Meier’s old friends. How can anyone who has suffered through the torture of adolescence — the hormonal crescendo, the cliques, the loneliness — write off her final act as simple lunacy? Even Virginia Tech University shooter Seung-Hui Cho wasn’t insane but rather severely depressed. People don’t just snap one day; they are the products of an environment that is unforgiving and sees emotional support as a sign of psychosis.

Mental health issues are particularly prevalent among college students. The small bank account, waning grades and burgeoning debt are enough to make Mr. Rogers neurotic.

Almost half of all college students asked said they sometimes feel “so depressed it’s difficult to function,” according to a 2005 study by the American College Health Association. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for college-age students. One of the worst rates was at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The top of the academic world apparently isn’t easy street, since 11 students committed suicide there between 1991 and 2001. One, Elizabeth Shin, set herself on fire in her dorm, prompting a reform of the school’s counseling program.

Even if you’re telling yourself that your problems aren’t that bad, it doesn’t mean they’re not worth addressing. Imagine doing that with a physical ailment: “Well, these crabs are only a little itchy. Forget the doctor, let’s go to the bar!”

Just so you know I’m not talking down from an immaculate high horse, I sought counseling at Olin Health Center last spring. It wasn’t anything very serious, but it was a big breakthrough for me. The endeavor made me happier than I’ve ever been in my postpubescent life. Now I worry about things other than my own psyche.

Counseling isn’t just for excessively troubled people such as Michael Jackson or Columbine High School shooter Dylan Klebold. The stigma that therapy demonstrates a lack of personal strength or that it’s for “crazy people” keeps the seriously disturbed from seeking treatment. Worse, it forces the rest of us to put up with stubborn acquaintances and their overcompensatory attitudes.

You know the people: Every other day you get online messages asking you to comment on the dozens of photos some girl took of herself at off-angles. Everybody’s met that guy who can’t help but boast about his mummified liver. Then there’s the unevolved alpha male who validates his fragile self through violence.

If you’re upset, talk to someone, don’t prop yourself up on vanity, beer or a macho complex.

Psychotherapy is simply admitting personally what we acknowledge collectively, then doing something about it. Perpetuating the stigma associated with mental health treatment and being in touch with your emotions only produces miserable people, like Meier and Cho, who think there’s no cure for sadness. MSU students can contact Olin Health Center for free treatment at (517) 353-4660.

Drew Robert Winter is a State News columnist and a journalism and English senior. Reach him at winterdr@msu.edu.