What the hell is going on here? No one treats mental illness lightly or thinks its "cute." I try to be kind to people with disorders because its called empathy.
If people bother me, I stay away from them. How difficult is this for you?
Go seek therapy.
I don't think that's what he said.
When you get into dealing with people with mental illness, your ability to "get along" is quite likely to be hampered. Think about it this way, we'll accommodate a person with a physical handicap because we can see it. If someone's blind or in a wheelchair I don't think most people mind flexing around the person. Most mental illness is shrouded in mystery and there's still strong stigma attached. I think that a mature person educated on how to work with a person with mental disabilities would be flexible just as most people are with a physical handicap. A friend of mine works with a deaf woman and was asked to speak directly in front of her so she can read her lips.
To me, this brings up the question is how accommodating am I, a non-relative coworker who only has professional contact, supposed to be? If this were a family member or friend, my investment would be different. And I hate to sound so "unsympathetic," but ultimately you're at work to work, not figure out what mood this person is in today and should you go into their office to ask a question and how are they going to respond. It's not a coworker's job to play therapist. A person's emotional contagion infects a whole work environment, but you're supposed to tolerate it because they're mentally ill? What about the effects of that environment on everyone else? Is that healthy and productive for them? Should I tolerate emotional outbursts in the work environment just because the person is mentally ill?
If I were in danger of physical violence I would be very quickly advised to take action against the person. If I had an alcoholic coworker who came back from lunch drunk everyday (lol, that happened in another department), there would definitely be an outcry. But since it's mental illness
when a person is emotionally unstable you must tolerate it with sympathy, or in other words, smile while someone stabs a fork in your hand. That's what I understood Santtu to be saying, why should it be tolerated? Why are some illnesses more socially acceptable than others. Nobody's ashamed of telling how many different antidepressants they've been prescribed, but don't tell anyone about the antipsychotics. Viagra is so common place, it's given out like Halloween candy. Certain illness have a halo around them, while others don't.
1. If a person is mentally ill and you work with them very closely it would be helpful to disclose they have a mental illness, which they may not feel comfortable doing because it is a violation of privacy on a certain level. But if they don't, then people don't know how to explain unusual behavior, they'll just think you're ornery and difficult for no good reason. For example, my father is deaf in his left ear and always tells people speaking on his left side he can't hear and he's not ignoring them.
2. People have to be educated on how to work around the mental illness.
3. The mentally ill person has to take responsibility as best as they can for their own behavior.
There's probably more but I can't think of them right now.