your mental illness is NOT an excuse to be an asshole

[miss fortune]

I know that this is a board that touches on psychology topics and that a lot of us here have a mental health issue or two... people with mental health issues tend to be interested in psychology and tangential topics and that makes sense. This isn't a complaint about everyone with mental health issues because that'd make me a hypocrite.

This IS a complaint about people who act like assholes and then turn around and say "well, I have ____ issue, so I can't help it!"

Such a fucking cop out and it makes everyone else with mental health issues look worse as well and guess what? We don't NEED that because people already have their prejudices thanks to pop culture portrayals Most people learn to behave in a manner where they don't go around trampling on other people just because they feel shitty or super duper awesome or anything of the sort at the time... and most of us have the balls (or ovaries) to apologize if we realize that we've been an ass.

Yes, I know that it can be hard sometimes when it feels like your own brain is your enemy, or when you become somewhat paranoid about the motives of others or see very little hope in the world... it sucks and I understand that... I deal with it myself. However, I also realize that it's not anybody else's fault that I feel that way and I take a step back and put extra effort into not taking it out on other people. Sometimes I have to reread things a few times before hitting post and sometimes I just don't post much at all and mostly lurk. I know that I'm not the only one who has to put in some extra effort from time to time and it just feels like it undermines that a bit every time someone uses mental illness as an excuse.

So please, don't use your mental illness as an excuse to treat others as a jerk because there are a lot of members on here who manage to behave in a perfectly non-asshole manner despite also having problems, and every time you do that, you're adding one more chip to the negative stereotypes pile

[prplchknz]

yes yes yes. I've been accused of blaming my illness on things when i hadn't when it was other people blaming it for me which is also frustrating. but eh you know sometimes i'm an asshole sometimes i get over emotional but i think if i was perfectly normal those things would still happen.

[SD45T-2]

@whatever You mean like this?

[Poki]

Mental illness is not an excuse to be an asshole period. It may be a reason though. Difference is that when you fix the reason the issue goes away. You also make attempts to fix reasons so you fix the issue. Not just blame it on something you don't continuously work on.

Excuses are what people who don't want to or plan on changing use.

Reasons are what people use who are trying to change and adapt.

[Forever]

Crap. I knew my narcissism wouldn't save me.



Jk. But yeah @whatever so true.

(I do not have any mental illness for those who didn't see my sarcasm.)

[Consilience]

I know that this is a board that touches on psychology topics and that a lot of us here have a mental health issue or two... people with mental health issues tend to be interested in psychology and tangential topics and that makes sense. This isn't a complaint about everyone with mental health issues because that'd make me a hypocrite.

This IS a complaint about people who act like assholes and then turn around and say "well, I have ____ issue, so I can't help it!"

Such a fucking cop out and it makes everyone else with mental health issues look worse as well and guess what? We don't NEED that because people already have their prejudices thanks to pop culture portrayals Most people learn to behave in a manner where they don't go around trampling on other people just because they feel shitty or super duper awesome or anything of the sort at the time... and most of us have the balls (or ovaries) to apologize if we realize that we've been an ass.

Yes, I know that it can be hard sometimes when it feels like your own brain is your enemy, or when you become somewhat paranoid about the motives of others or see very little hope in the world... it sucks and I understand that... I deal with it myself. However, I also realize that it's not anybody else's fault that I feel that way and I take a step back and put extra effort into not taking it out on other people. Sometimes I have to reread things a few times before hitting post and sometimes I just don't post much at all and mostly lurk. I know that I'm not the only one who has to put in some extra effort from time to time and it just feels like it undermines that a bit every time someone uses mental illness as an excuse.

So please, don't use your mental illness as an excuse to treat others as a jerk because there are a lot of members on here who manage to behave in a perfectly non-asshole manner despite also having problems, and every time you do that, you're adding one more chip to the negative stereotypes pile

Great post! Out of curiosity, have you noticed this as a general phenomenon or have you seen a fair share stuff as a moderator?

[uumlau]

Great post! Out of curiosity, have you noticed this as a general phenomenon or have you seen a fair share stuff as a moderator?

We could tell you, but then we'd have to kill you.

[Consilience]

We could tell you, but then we'd have to kill you.

Oh noes... The INTJ is gonna eat me alive!

[uumlau]

Oh noes... The INTJ is gonna eat me alive!

With interpretive dance!

[Lexicon]

With interpretive dance!

That's the WORST death sentence of all.