stigma of mental illness, discuss

[prplchknz]

Mental illness is such a farce that I can't even justify reading the op.
Sometimes feeling sad is what you are supposed to be feeling. If you feel sad...you're not sick...you're just sad.
Sometimes feeling angry, nervous, etc etc is what you are supposed to be feeling.
I'm not saying you can't "not feel sad" when you take a drug...but it's not as if you are sick..you're just a normal human who is hiding (him/her)self behind drugs. Some people use drugs, others money, others sex, others success, others power...it's all the same thing in the end.

Also, did you know you can buy prescription drugs online...without a prescription? Apparently a team of "qualified pharmacists" will write you one when you order..if you want it.
I'm feeling a bit "depressed" (not high)...so I'm going to go "self medicate" (drug myself up). Perhaps then my problems will go away..or maybe I'll go away from my problems...or something.

I'm not sure if you're being a troll or really are that ignorant.

 

[Beargryllz]

I'm not sure if you're being a troll or really are that ignorant.

Stigmas are dependent on ignorance. It is a crucial component.

 

[ICUP]

I hate that just because i don't fit a sterotype i can't possibly have a mental illness, the fact that i take meds must mean i'm not trying hard enough, that I'm weak. When in reality no matter what I did I still had symptoms its just frustrating that strangers assume that I'm a certain way because I choose to be that way that I can change at the snap of a finger.

Yes, it can be frustrating. BUT, keep in mind that not everyone believes this. Change is difficult. Hang in there. Keep trying and working and your condition WILL improve. I promise it will.

xyz just serves to piss me off, I'm doing my part but the way they treat me is as soon as i have the money i'm moving out

They just don't have any iota how you feel or what you are going through. It's a very alone place to be, and only you can find your way out. Keep pushing back the bushes, and one day, you will see the sun shining into the forest.

 

[Usehername]

I think the key is connecting with people who get it. Who understand how it permeates everything in your life, who have lived it themselves or seen a loved one live through it. It's far too common a thing to feel alone about. The issue is that the stigma makes us all silent about it.

I asked an ENFJ to play "I have a loved one with x illness" matchmaker since people just voluntarily share personal things with her. See if you can find a similar human hub where you can bridge some connections with others who get it.

 

[King sns]

Mental illness is such a farce that I can't even justify reading the op.
Sometimes feeling sad is what you are supposed to be feeling. If you feel sad...you're not sick...you're just sad.
Sometimes feeling angry, nervous, etc etc is what you are supposed to be feeling.
I'm not saying you can't "not feel sad" when you take a drug...but it's not as if you are sick..you're just a normal human who is hiding (him/her)self behind drugs. Some people use drugs, others money, others sex, others success, others power...it's all the same thing in the end.

Also, did you know you can buy prescription drugs online...without a prescription? Apparently a team of "qualified pharmacists" will write you one when you order..if you want it.
I'm feeling a bit "depressed" (not high)...so I'm going to go "self medicate" (drug myself up). Perhaps then my problems will go away..or maybe I'll go away from my problems...or something.

Yeah, everyone thinks they are Queen Elizabeth at some point. That mumbling in your head is supposed to be there sometimes. And God really did appear to you and tell you to sacrifice your cat.

 

[ICUP]

I think the key is connecting with people who get it. Who understand how it permeates everything in your life, who have lived it themselves or seen a loved one live through it. It's far too common a thing to feel alone about. The issue is that the stigma makes us all silent about it.

I asked an ENFJ to play "I have a loved one with x illness" matchmaker since people just voluntarily share personal things with her. See if you can find a similar human hub where you can bridge some connections with others who get it.

I agree that it helps. Although I think it just depends on how much..... it didn't help me as much to meet others with my condition, as it did just to meet someone who I connected with, and who I bonded with, who truly cared about me, and understood what it took to help me to grow. (Patience, freedom, understanding, time, space, love). Being sx, I think this was very integral in my recovery, to meet someone i could improve for other than myself. My parents couldn't be that "person".

I think each person's recovery is so personal, and only they can know exactly what it takes. That takes digging through a forest. It takes trying a variety of methods until the ones that work for you take hold.

 

[kyuuei]

Mental illness is such a farce that I can't even justify reading the op.
Sometimes feeling sad is what you are supposed to be feeling. If you feel sad...you're not sick...you're just sad.
Sometimes feeling angry, nervous, etc etc is what you are supposed to be feeling.
I'm not saying you can't "not feel sad" when you take a drug...but it's not as if you are sick..you're just a normal human who is hiding (him/her)self behind drugs. Some people use drugs, others money, others sex, others success, others power...it's all the same thing in the end.

Also, did you know you can buy prescription drugs online...without a prescription? Apparently a team of "qualified pharmacists" will write you one when you order..if you want it.
I'm feeling a bit "depressed" (not high)...so I'm going to go "self medicate" (drug myself up). Perhaps then my problems will go away..or maybe I'll go away from my problems...or something.

I'm going to go ahead and assume you're younger than 18.. You speak with all the conviction of a child who hasn't seen anything in the world.

 

[Forever_Jung]

I hate when people dismiss mental illness, but I also hate those people who claim they're bi-polar to excuse their assholery.

 

[xisnotx]

I speak with the conviction of a child primarily because that is who I'm most concerned about. Adults who have been so "psychologically damaged" (due to their parents/society, most likely) that any hope of them ever functioning normally in society without the use of psychoactive drugs are, what I would deem, a lost cause.
Not that they can't be useful in society, indeed they can, and have (they are the "worker bees"), it's just that going forward, particularly in the next generation, I think it's extremely important that the illusion of mental illness be brought to light. We can't raise a generation of people where it is believed that there is a "right way" of "thinking, feeling, cognitively processing (whatever you want to call it)" and expect them not to attempt the obvious. We are humans after all...

No one is "mentally ill". People are "mentally different"..but I do not think being "mentally different" warrants a change in that person's cognitive processes. Some people look at the world and see nothing but misery. Instead of changing the misery they see around them, they choose to change the way they see the world. How is that, in anyway, rational, or helpful to society? If that is an adults choice, then that's on him/her. But a child, I'd argue, needs to be allowed to make that choice..and growing up being exposed to the fallacy of "mental illness" severely limits him/her in that choice.

If, however, those cognitive processes lead a person to acts that are detrimental to society (like killing people)..perhaps society should take notice, not to change that person, but to protect itself. In these cases, society actively acts out of the obligation to self preserve.

But, what is so detrimental to society about some person who can't motivate themselves to get out of bed in the morning because they are "depressed"? Society holds no obligation to these people to motivate them, using drugs or otherwise, (particularly if they are adults). If they want to "not snap out of it"..that's on them. If they can't "snap out of it, without using drugs"...then are they really "snapping out of it"..or are they just hiding behind a drug induced "state"...as "unnatural" as the one they are trying to snap out of. (Unless, of course, taking drugs is "natural"..in which case, I have no argument. But, I predict many of them have and will snap out of it, naturally or otherwise, in due time)....and those that don't ever snap out of it, "naturally or otherwise"? Well..perhaps they were never meant to, perhaps there really is nothing to "snap out of"..or perhaps they already have, they just don't realize it yet, themselves. )

But they were never "mentally ill" or "sick"...they just took some time to develop what other humans, I'd argue, develop sooner. The point is, though, we all develop it (it's fundamental to being human)...and indeed the "delayed time" that it takes for some is obviously beneficial, and I'd argue necessary, for humanity's existence.

Indeed, the fact that I am so "mentally young" should indicate that perhaps I'm more qualified to speak on the subject than it would first appear.

That's all I'm going to say on this..but I'll read the thread in its entirety to see if perhaps, I have overlooked important details.

But then again, maybe my ignorance will blind me from the truth.

 

[Lark]

I hate when people dismiss mental illness, but I also hate those people who claim they're bi-polar to excuse their assholery.

A very good point, mental illness, any sort of illness in fact, shouldnt be a free pass.

 

[prplchknz]

A very good point, mental illness, any sort of illness in fact, shouldnt be a free pass.

I agree with this, that's why I've only told strangers online and maybe 3 people about mine. Online no one cares or don't believe you, and the 3 people i told i had to.

 

[Usehername]

But then again, maybe my ignorance will blind me from the truth.

Do you think that you could convince someone with severe Alzheimers to wake up to reality and remember who they and their loved ones are? That you could do a better job than their loved ones who are desperately trying to "bring them back" already?

Why or why not? If not, why do you presume that mental illness broadly defined is any different?

You are ignorant. That's not always an insult. I'm ignorant about a lot of things, but like a lot of people in this thread, the daily consequences of mental illness is not one of them.

 

[Mal12345]

I hate that just because i don't fit a sterotype i can't possibly have a mental illness, the fact that i take meds must mean i'm not trying hard enough, that I'm weak. When in reality no matter what I did I still had symptoms its just frustrating that strangers assume that I'm a certain way because I choose to be that way that I can change at the snap of a finger.

feel free too add own experiences or to ask questions.

You're talking about a very common and ignorant attitude some people have about the mentally ill. For example, I mentioned to a customer of mine that a friend of mine's schizophrenic son was doing a lot better these days. She replied that he must have decided to straighten himself up. I told her it was the new medication. (A schizophrenic can't just "straighten up.")

That's at least excusable, in that this woman is a hick who doesn't have a clue anyway. But doctors and nurses, especially doctors, should know better. On the contrary, doctors treat mental patients differently, almost as if they are holding back the urge to ridicule. They know everything there is to know about the body but are completely brain-dead about the mind. Hospital nurses commonly refer to mental health care nurses as "babysitters." And psychiatric students in medical school are treated with a certain disdain by students in other fields.

 

[Luv Deluxe]

I hate when people dismiss mental illness, but I also hate those people who claim they're bi-polar to excuse their assholery.

+ 100.

I also think bipolar disorder is frequently over-diagnosed. I'm not sure why, but many therapists administer a survey called the MDQ (Mood Disorder Questionnaire) without taking the time to explore any other potential psychological symptoms/issues at play. The thing is, if you're so much as having a bad day and a new therapist makes you take that thing, you'll score as bipolar. It's ridiculous. Maybe some of them consider it an easy out - to just prescribe some drugs and hopefully watch the magic happen. I don't honestly know, but it feels like lazy care to me.

Maybe I'm just embittered. I was misdiagnosed bipolar, and for a while I knew very little - so I just accepted that. When my long-term problems weren't going away, I went back to this woman and asked her if maybe we got it wrong and should try some other approach. She vehemently shook her head and declared that I couldn't be anything else, because I'm "too nice." I thought, holy crap - there are a ton of things wrong with that statement. After realizing that her personal biases were getting in the way of my health, I stood up and left her office on the spot. I have since found a therapist who is much better suited to me, but it was hard work finding one.

So, while many of these cases are genuine, you also end up with a ton of people on medication they don't need. Or you'll meet others, who, perhaps out of a desire to feel unique, cutely claim they're bipolar because they can go from down one minute to obnoxiously hyper the next (which, really, is something many of us are capable of). The term gets thrown around too loosely, like those who say (with some measure of seriousness) that they're obsessive-compulsive because they like to organize their M&Ms by color before eating them.

I agree that one's diagnosis shouldn't necessarily be a "get out of jail free" card, especially if it's more manageable than Alzheimer's (for example). I have a friend who wears her disordered label like a badge of honor. I mean, I love her to death, just...not when she's doing that crap. I think she has kind of romanticized the idea of being fragile and dangerous. When she fights with her significant other over extremely ridiculous things, she shrugs it off and says, "Well, I suffer from X and he should know better." Drives. Me. Insane.

 

[Mal12345]

I hate when people dismiss mental illness, but I also hate those people who claim they're bi-polar to excuse their assholery.

But isn't 'hate' a pretty strong word to describe that?

 

[Forever_Jung]

But isn't 'hate' a pretty strong word to describe that?

I HATE when people say 'hate' is a strong word.

 

[prplchknz]

I HATE when people say 'hate' is a strong word.

i hate when people say they hate that people say hate is a strong word

 

[entropie]

Are you btw an outsider in the States if you claim to have no mental-illness ?

 

[prplchknz]

Are you btw an outsider in the States if you claim to have no mental-illness ?

good question

 

[xisnotx]

Are you btw an outsider in the States if you claim to have no mental-illness ?

I wouldn't be surprised if in a couple years thinking you have no mental illness becomes a mental illness.

"Delusional derealization disorder"