(...) so we can develop more extensive and elaborate programs to equip people with the life skills they need to better cope with mental illness.

(...) I have a wish, a wish that one day every person suffering from mental illness can feel comfortable talking about their problems without the fear of being humiliated and degraded.

It's called a psychotherapist. A professional that is there first and foremost as a sympathetic ear, to listen to you. That's actually the very foundation of of therapy : to have this connection with another person who cares about you (if they don't, look for another one).

I also would not recommend seeing a psychiatrist or anybody in a clinical setting. They are seeing the body / mind from a materialistic outset, and are trained to medicate. They don't have the training, nor the willingness, to be really there for another, and to actually care about the other. That connection is in fact the most important aspect for healing.

The reality is the majority of people suffering mental illness are incredibly strong individuals who have been beaten down by a terrifying condition. To genuinely believe that the solution to solving anxiety and depression is to simply “tell it to stop” Immensely exposes a persons lack of mental health education.

Yes there is massive ignorance about mental illness. But then again that is precisely why there are specialists who are trained to help with that. Sure you can wish that people had more understanding but they wouldn't be able to help with any significant emotional difficulties. Who understands the shame and humiliation that come from being abandoned in your first year of life? Or growing up in an abusive family? Who understands how repeated abuse and sometimes even violence can deeply affect a person's sense of self and outlook on others and the world? Even when relatives can be empathetic, they don't have the vast array of knowledge and experience of a psychotherapist to guide the person to heal.

In fact, the real tragedy is, that often times the very person who suffers from anxiety / depression are unable themselves to see abuse as abuse. They are unable to recognize the experiences that shaped their outlook on life. That is precisely what the ego does, to shield you away from pain. It is very convenient then, to believe symptoms are a cause of a problem, since you are not aware of the actual causes. It takes courage to even bring oneself to go and see a therapist because in some way that is to allow oneself to see the cracks in the wall, the rigid wall of defenses that you have built in order to avoid feeling the pain that is bottled up inside. I know, I started psychotherapy at age 41 for abandonment in my first year of life, and growing up in an abusive family.