..........and so, you suffer mental illness...........

[BarbTherese]

 

 

 

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There is no change without action...........  "There’s no change without action. So if you’re mentally ill, and you can muster the courage, consider not guarding your secret so carefully. It’s a huge step toward self-acceptance and it’ll make the world a safer, fairer place for others who suffer just the same as you "

............Researchers found that of all the strategies to combat the stigma, “contact, which challenges public attitudes about mental illness through direct interactions with persons who have these disorders,” is the most effective, even more effective than attempts to educate people about the nature of mental illness.

Encountering somebody with mental illness forces you to see them as a complicated, nuanced, intelligent person, who defies stereotyping. It forces you to see them as any other human being, whose neurochemistry and personal history presents unique challenges for them. They’re not “crazy,” they’re mentally ill. It’s a big difference.

I suppose it’s not enough to talk the talk, so here’s what I haven’t been telling people: I have obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). The disorder is the subject of a great deal of caricaturing … you know, “Oh, I’m so OCD, I hate it when my bed covers are wrinkled!” It’s actually not very funny. OCD gives me panic attacks, it gives me a brutal case of scrupulosity, it plays horrifying, intrusive images over and over again in my head, and imposes irrational rules on me.

The other day I made a little progress — I broke one of my rules. I ate my trail mix in the wrong order. I ate two cashews in a row, instead of taking turns with them. Hey, I’d be laughing myself at the pure stupidity of that problem, except that I know myself, and what I did was a big deal, and real progress. Still, it doesn’t mean I don’t feel stupid admitting it.

Mental illness feels humiliating, but it shouldn’t be, and it wouldn’t be if society didn’t categorize it differently than other, non-humiliating illnesses.

Pastor Rick Warren, whose son committed suicide after years of depression, put it well: “If I have diabetes, there is no stigma to that, but if my brain doesn’t work, why am I supposed to be ashamed of that? It’s just another organ. People will readily admit to taking medicine for high blood pressure, but if I am taking medication for some kind of mental problem I’m having, I’m supposed to hide that.” 

There’s no change without action. So if you’re mentally ill, and you can muster the courage, consider not guarding your secret so carefully. It’s a huge step toward self-acceptance and it’ll make the world a safer, fairer place for others who suffer just the same as you. https://aleteia.org/2017/07/04/if-youre-mentally-ill-you-should-talk-about-it-ill-start/

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In a nutshell.............

I am now 74 years of age almost.   I suffer bipolar disorder and have done so for around 45 years, although psychiatry feels it goes much further back, and probably onset in my early teens triggered by trauma.  I have had two quite serious incidents of trauma in my journey to date........... 

Edited September 14, 2019 by BarbaraTherese