Disclaimer: this post is not targeting or directed at anyone, and is not meant to be offensive at all
There is often a lot of stigma around mental illness and what that means. There is also a lot of romanticization and glorification surrounding mental illness. Not only through popular YouTubers, Instagram models, popular social media people, but also through episode stories themselves cough My Psycho cough. I know that often a lot of teens will say they have depression and anxiety so that they can be qUiRkY or use it as an excuse when they do bad things for no reason. I’m not trying to be offensive when I say this but depression and anxiety shouldn’t be used as a crutch. Of course it’s okay to say “hey, I’m feeling really low right now, please give me some space” but it’s not okay to just say “f**k off, i hate u” and then say oh well it’s cause of my depression/anxiety. I know there are a lot more mental illnesses besides depression and anxiety but I have noticed that those two are the most “trending.”
Both depression and anxiety can be so bad for you, they really ruin people’s lives and it’s not for other people to diagnose themselves with it, even though they don’t have it. I know someone with severe anxiety and she can’t even go to school or leave her room without having a panic attack. And severe depression often leads to so many other things such as suicide. This is very serious and if you don’t have it consider yourself very lucky. It’s ficking awful to have any mental illness and it’s so gross to me to think that u have to diagnose yourself with a mental illness to fit in. Please just be happy and healthy
So thoughts? Opinions? Do you think this is true or is this something you’ve never heard of before. Please don’t start unnecessary arguments or anything like that thank you.
okay so, i know we kind of had a talk about this is the imessage group chat, but here’s my opinion, if you’re not educated, don’t write about it or talk about it because chances are you will not portray it correctly and respectfully. there are so many different ways to portray it that shames it, glorifies it, romanticizes it, uses it as an excuse etc. people who have mental illnesses are normal people. yes, they can do bad things but a mental illness doesn’t excuse that. yes someone can have depression and have someone fall in love with them but that doesn’t make it cute. like you said, mental illnesses are a very serious topic that is thrown around like a meme when it shouldn’t be.
Moved to “discuss” as I think this fits better there. Please check out the categories topics before creating a new topic! We’ll have a guide up and ready soon.
I dont think ppl realize how expensive doctors are or how some dont even know what they are doing(misdiagnosis to not even knowing wats wrong) which leads to low funds and having to figure it out urself cuz ur getting told the same thing by diffrent people…its not a result of ppl wanting a MI. Its a “i feel sh*tty whats wrong lets look it up” (u can easily buy a copy of the DSMV too…)
when is it depression?(rhetorical)
Is it only depression when u commit suicide(and are undiagnosed)
When u feel numb/hollow for years but havent been diagnosied…so it cant be real…
When your holding a knife to ur skin and fighting urges to harm?
You have depression before ur diagnosed…u go to the doctor to get diagnosed.
Thats like saying u dont have a broken leg until a doctor tells u its broken.
And ppl who say they have a MI when they dont for attention is also a mental illness itself.(not always but sometimes)
I don’t think doctors should be expensive. You shouldn’t have to pay to be told you’re not well! That’s why I’m happy over here in the British Isles
See, the reason diagnosis and doctors in general are so important (in civilised countries where they’re actually allowed to take care of the populace without extorting them) is because the majority of them have enough experience that their opinion and knowledge is actually more credible than the books they learned from. Of course, they make mistakes, but they generally are more qualified to tell people what’s actually wrong with them.
Depression is a different story. The brain is still largely a mystery, so a GP (general practitioner) or just your normal doctor probably would misdiagnose a serious mental illness like this. It’s why we have psychologists and therapists. The brain is far too different to the rest of our body for it to be treated by the same people who say, treat broken legs.
I just worry because people who self diagnose either say they’re sociopaths on tumblr to look cool or look up the symptoms to a common cold or fever and think they have the bubonic plague, AIDS and swine flu all at once
I disagree the doctors here google symptoms and dont know anything…one doctor said so much racist crap to me before. Plus they are expensive.
Some do a goodjob but thts very rare. Which is why i think SDwth reflections a good thing…even when u get checked out ull be reflecting wat was said…
That’s my opinion though, that anywhere you need to pay for health care probably doesn’t have your wellbeing in mind in the first place. So why should the doctors know any more than they need to? And all they need to know is how to make it look like they fixed a problem and how to file a lawsuit or defend against one.
That isn’t how healthcare should be handled, and its not how its handled here
I absolutely hate the fact that people want to glorify the fact they have a mental illness, or use it as an excuse for their actions. It’s not okay, and it’s honestly just really upsetting.
Things like ADHD are very common and I dont think anyone should tell someone they dont have it… How would you know?
I spend a lot of time with kids with kids with ADHD and other disabilities and it can be rough for them.
Outside of work, I do find people who talk about their mental illnesses difficult to talk to. I’m not very good at it, but I don’t automatically think they’re lying or just searching for attention. Ok I might, but I always tell myself to stop because how the heck do I know???
I remember in school there was a girl on the bus who always scratched herself with safety pins in front of everyone. The scratches were shallow and healed quickly and we rolled our eyes at her and said she just wanted attention, but now that I’m an adult I think that even doing that means she probably needed help, or someone to talk to. Even being attention seeking enough to do something like that, prob means you need some help.
Back to the topic of glorifying mental illness in a story tho… I dont think you can tell right away.
For example someone who is anorexic… In the beginning of the story, they may glorify it because they think what they’re doing is helping them…because they have a problem.
I think it’s okay if it takes some time for them to understand that it’s a problem and you have to give the story a chance to know whether that will happen.
Characters may use their mental illness as an excuse in the beginning of a story and you might have no idea that later they will realize that they were wrong.
Yeah, characters glorifying it is a different story, that can feed into an arc, and a very interesting one at that. It’s when authors start glorifying it that they run into a problem
Yeah like when anorexia is (plot-wise) framed as the solution to the MC’s problems, or when suicidal thoughts are treated as though they’re sexy and alluring instead of horrible and crippling. Like, it’s fine for characters to feel that way. In fact, it’s realistic! Some of us become dependent on our mental illnesses as either a crutch or a defining factor of our personalities. But when the story as a whole does nothing but present mental illness as a good thing? That’s when I have an issue
As someone who studied psychology I can tell you I still feel as though don’t know enough about mental illnesses to be telling people what’s right and what’s wrong. BUT here’s my subjective pov anyways.
I believe that stories centered around mental illnesses should be written by someone who has the mental illness in question or has accurate knowledge about said mental illness for there to be correct representation. (This means someone who has anorexia nervosa writing a story centred around a character who has anorexia nervosa. and so on)
Just because I (or any other student) take psychology doesn’t mean we’re licensed to diagnose people.
Seriously people from the other psych class have made jokes about diagnosing themselves or others with anorexia nervosa or schizophrenia when we learnt about it and it’s quite horrifying. You actually need further education to become a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist.
There is a reason why the DSM and ICD (diagnostic systems for mental illnesses) are continually revised. They’re flawed and their earlier version very heavily biased towards the norms of western societies. What does this mean? It means your diagnosis, as objective as clinicians try to make it, may be subjective. That’s why it’s better for more than one person to diagnose you. (sorry I’m going full PEEL over here, this was one useful thing I learnt).
I think a lot of people don’t understand what mental illnesses are and what it means to have one. But I also believe a lot of people are afraid to ask. If you know a lot about a certain mental illness you feel is misrepresented, I encourage you to share it. And if you want to learn more about a certain mental illness, then I also encourage you to ask about it.
After all, psychology is considered to be a “new” science. The mind is very complicated and even psychologists are still trying to understand it.
Okay an important one: Everyone’s experience is different. Even if you have been diagnosed with the same mental illness, you may not exhibit the same symptoms as another person and because of that, you may not receive the same treatments. That’s why I feel like I have no right to tell someone that they do or don’t have a mental illness.
Another one: mental illnesses can’t be cured because treatments only treat the symptoms (for now). I learnt that one in class so I hope I relayed that correctly.
There are biological aspects to mental illnesses such as depression that people ignore. Most people think it’s all social but if that were the case then the big nature-nurture debate wouldn’t exist.
Okay I’ve been writing this for so long I feel like I forgot if someone mentioned anything above and I’m sorry if I forgot something or messed up but that’s my take.
The biggest thing for me is that we shouldn’t attack people when discussing mental illnesses. People are afraid to discuss this topic and sometimes they’re scared to say the wrong thing but if you know better/think someone said something incorrect, please correct someone nicely. If you don’t, then ask nicely as well.
I think discussing the topic mental illnesses is important because it raises awareness + reduces stereotypes and prejudice against people with mental illnesses. ty
(jesus this sounds like an essay)
The takeaway here that the mind is massively complex, and even licensed professionals still need to keep their skills and knowledge up to date and continually growing is a good point.
The mind is definitely ridiculously complicated. This was a fantastic post, thank you for taking the time out for this!
