To get this thread back on topic...
Mental illness is...often judged by comparisons, competitions, and assessments of strength which are determined by expectations that are, at times, unrealistic and unfair. Said judgments often only result in the person experiencing alienation on top of everything they already experience. It's just unproductive or even counterproductive if the endeavor is to reach solutions, but I don't think that most people even care about the solutions despite complaints about the existence of such issues.
Judging is not seeking understanding (or at best it's seeking it while biased, which may limit the ability to understand), and in order to aim for solutions, one must first be open-minded enough to try to understand the problem being dealt with. You could say that understanding (knowledge) is a type of power, therefore; power to change the issue at hand. By shifting from judgment to understanding we gain more control over the problems. That is why medicines and cures have been developed, it's why diagnoses exist. Rather than burning people, stoning them, or shooting them, we try to cure them. This development has required people to seek understanding. Therefore, not only are these competitions, comparisons, and judgments about strength levels not in the best interest of those on the receiving end, but they are also not even in the best interest of the people dishing it out. If you don't want it to be there, perhaps try to do something about it rather than remaining ignorant while verbally casting stones like some kind of dim-witted primate. It's like punching a computer to try to get it to work properly when the graphics card goes out. Not every problem goes away when you beat it with a stick, and we aren't neanderthals.
To be overly accepting is equally harmful, as it would entail the denial of there being a problem at all, not to mention that it's unrealistic because people do affect other people, and when that is damaging it cannot be ignored. I am not saying that mental illness is okay and everyone should accept it (thus achieving nothing besides ignoring problems), but that it should be approached in an empathetic manner that is beneficial and helpful (and hopefully people will be willing to accept help and treatment). An empathetic approach is not merely a matter of values, it is also more conducive to solutions and thus more logical than a lack thereof.
Yesterday, I watched a few videos of cat rescues. Normally I try to avoid these because they always make me cry, want to dedicate my life to rescuing cats all day, and wish I could find my nearest kill shelters and adopt every one of them. However, sometimes the titles of recommended videos lure me in and curiosity gets the best of me. One video was about a stray cat with messed up nerves or something so that he was unable to properly walk and was getting around on the tops of his back feet. Despite its pain and the fact that every day was a struggle, it continued on.
The other one was a 2-part video about a depressed cat that refused to eat after his owner abandoned him. He had lost the will to carry on. That is, until a girl wanted to adopt him and spent time with him, and then he began eating again finally after about a week of forming a relationship with her. Since he was badly anemic, he had to stay hospitalized during this until he was eating again. When he was placed in his carrier to be transported to the girl's house it triggered a fear of abandonment in him since last time he was in one he was abandoned in it, and IIRC he briefly stopped eating again for a few days or something once she got him home.
The reason I'm sharing this here is that it got me thinking about comparisons between humans with these cats versus humans with other humans who have similar problems. I love the dynamics people have with animals: nobody is going, "well, Mr. Depressed kitty, look at this other cat over here, her life completely sucks and she is still striving, so why are you lying here refusing to eat when you are healthy and have free hearty meals being fed to you and a safe place to stay, and this other cat is walking around in pain every day and fighting other cats and animals but still hunting despite that it hurts to even simply just move? What a weak cat. You're just being ungrateful for what you have." Nope, people were simply equally compassionate toward both of them, seeking instead to help resolve the issue. There was no comparison of problems, no competition for who has it worse, like...who looks at a cat and goes, "why are you depressed so that you can't even eat? You get to lie around in a comfy place all day and have all your food handed to you, and meanwhile, I'm dealing with X, Y, and Z bullshit and have to work my ass off just to give it to you or to eat myself." Nope...people were just compassionate, heartbroken over how skinny he had gotten, and ultimately just wanting happiness for him. Granted, not everyone is compassionate toward them, and there are even abusive fuckers that deserve to suffer the same abuse they gave and then given the death sentence if you ask me, but in general you still just never hear judgments about things like the cats' levels of strength vs weakness in their problems, nor competitions as to who has it worse. People who have compassion are, for the most part, simply compassionate about whatever problems there are. I just don't get why people can do it with cats but not other people. Although I doubt I'll ever see it in my lifetime, I can only hope that the world will go in this direction with human mental health problems, as well as other invisible ones, just as it has become increasingly accepting of women's equality and LGBT matters.
These statements are generalizations and my intention was not to claim that anything I've said is true for every case out there. These kinds of judgments have been my own experience as well as several others I've had the pleasure of speaking with about their mental health.
Apparently.
