Discussion Are you actually mentally ill?

[Darkhaven]

I have never been to a psychiatrist or a therapist after my big problems started to unravel.
I was taken to a psychologist when i was a kid as my family members started to notice i was weird and different.
But she didn't diagnose me with anything. I only went there twice: first to talk to her and then to do those tests with images, where you have to tell "what do you see?".
Currently,(more than 10 years after that) i suspect i might have Borderline, OCD and maybe Autism, if not more.
I have 100% certainty that i have Major Depressive Disorder and Anxiety Disorder, the latter both in general and social forms. Also several neurologists have taken notice of the depression and anxiety and pointed out to me to seek a psychiatrist, which i never did, and likely will never do.

 

[Jean Améry]

'Mental illness' is opinion, not fact. There is no way to objectively observe it and measure it. Since I learned from experience I derive no benefit from regarding myself as 'mentally ill' (on the contrary: it's a self-fulfilling prophesy and you will receive negative social backlash if others know) I decided I am not. Since it's only a matter of opinion it doesn't matter unlike real diseases like cancer that can actually harm and kill you. It's important to view the world in the correct way and use the proper categories. Knowledge (verifiable) versus opinion (unverifiable) is one the most fundamental distinctions and it was mentioned by Socrates and Plato around the 6th century BC.

Putting labels on people and using descriptive or derogatory terms for their behaviour, thoughts and emotions (which can be very painful of course) does not benefit anyone but the 'professionals' and attention-seekers nor does it lead to genuine medical treatment. If doling out pills proves it's a disease and those providing the pills are bona fide medical doctors drugdealers are actually MD's treating a wide variety of illnesses.

Psychiatric diagnosis' are about as real as possession by the devil. If you believe they're real they become reality to you but belief does not equal knowledge.

To avoid any misunderstanding: I do not deny suffering of any kind but I do deny mental distress/suffering is a symptom of various mysterious illnesses that nobody ever actually observed and only arose due to changing interpretation of behaviour in relationship to socio-cultural norms.

 

[Darkhaven]

'Mental illness' is opinion, not fact. There is no way to objectively observe it and measure it. Since I learned from experience I derive no benefit from regarding myself as 'mentally ill' (on the contrary: it's a self-fulfilling prophesy and you will receive negative social backlash if others know) I decided I am not. Since it's only a matter of opinion it doesn't matter unlike real diseases like cancer that can actually harm and kill you. It's important to view the world in the correct way and use the proper categories. Knowledge (verifiable) versus opinion (unverifiable) is one the most fundamental distinctions and it was mentioned by Socrates and Plato around the 6th century BC.

Putting labels on people and using descriptive or derogatory terms for their behaviour, thoughts and emotions (which can be very painful of course) does not benefit anyone but the 'professionals' and attention-seekers nor does it lead to genuine medical treatment. If doling out pills proves it's a disease and those providing the pills are bona fide medical doctors drugdealers are actually MD's treating a wide variety of illnesses.

Psychiatric diagnosis' are about as real as possession by the devil. If you believe they're real they become reality to you but belief does not equal knowledge.

To avoid any misunderstanding: I do not deny suffering of any kind but I do deny mental distress/suffering is a symptom of various mysterious illnesses that nobody ever actually observed and only arose due to changing interpretation of behaviour in relationship to socio-cultural norms.

Not to mention that some "therapists" make things a bit worse than they actually are so they can take more time with the patient and bill you more.
Just like the common taxi driver in my country that chooses a longer path to get to the client's destiny so they can get more money than they would had they went by the shortest path.

 

[Final Escape]

No I was never mentally ill, I was dealing with c-ptsd but I didn't know what was going on with me. It felt like I was crazy though. Plus being subjected to propaganda didn't help.

 

[Punished]

I am mentally ill, but also physically ill. They both feed each other, it's a vicious cycle. I have mild hallucinations and irrational thoughts, and suffer from severe anxiety. I also have endocrine and spinal disorders that cause debilitating pain. Even without the mental illness, the physical ones have such a negative effect on my quality of life that I would want to CTB.

Nope, I am grieving and also have to deal with a lot of practical problems.

I am so sorry for your grief. Have lost a series of family members over the last few years and grief is an almost unbearable journey. I wish you strength wherever your journey takes you.

 

[stardust353]

I do have mental illnesses, but I'm not sure I would class myself as ill. I'm certainly different, and there is something diagnosable, but I wouldn't personally go as far as to say I am sick with it. Rather, it is just a condition I happen to have.

I will say though, I have been trying to get a concrete diagnosis and received no real help in the UK. Doctors seem eager to just through antidepressants at the problem with no real discussion. I am disappointed that in many countries mental illness is seen as a problem that can be solved later rather than sooner. Especially in cases where people may not want to be suicidal and reach out for help, but get little to no support

 

[Orin]

'Mental illness' is opinion, not fact.

This is so true.

Reminds me of a quote from Dave Chappelle:
"The worst thing to call somebody is crazy. It's dismissive. "I don't understand this person. So they're crazy." That's bullshit. These people are not crazy. They strong people. Maybe their environment is a little sick."

 

[justventingmaybe9]

But most of all I detest the husk thing I have become. That in truth is already dead and is simply pretending at being fine with this level of decline and insanity. For now, I stay pretending at a facsimile of life. My sole goal to at least ensure my loved ones are safe enough when I depart. but it still feels like an awful defeat because there is no escaping this will cause them a lot of pain in the end. It will no doubt set some of them back a long way and revisit old traumas. Each day feels more and more like being trapped by love and a detest that I am resenting my loved ones for making me endure invisibly, just a single day or moment longer. That to me feels like losing even more of myself but I can't live just for them in this state of guaranteed worsening misery and pain. I have to endure just a bit longer for the sake of decency but it is hard.

Living only for someone else is tough. Sorry to hear about your situation. I hope your loved ones, somehow, understand how much you are sacrificing for them.

 

[Sargasm]

Severe Depressive Disorder, General Anxiety Disorder, and Complex PTSD. Good times...

I do believe that my choice to CTB is rational because I am unable to function as an adult or live a happy meaningful life. Things get worse for me every day and every time I try to change or improve, it just gets worse. I have stuck the fork into the electrical outlet that is life enough times to learn, understand, and accept that for some people, suicide is the better option.

I am certainly not happy about it, but then again, even a momentary glimpse of happiness is a rare occurrence for me. I used to joke that my superpower is that I am too dumb to know when to quit. I don't make that joke anymore.

Now I just want to quit. No more desperate attempts to change a miserable situation when I know it is pointless and will just make things worse. It needs to end.

 

[azucaramargo]

a disordered life constantly hampered by limits and workarounds and consequences that have the same inevitability of an epileptic fit

I love this line.

 

[irrelevant_string]

'Mental illness' is opinion, not fact. There is no way to objectively observe it and measure it. Since I learned from experience I derive no benefit from regarding myself as 'mentally ill' (on the contrary: it's a self-fulfilling prophesy and you will receive negative social backlash if others know) I decided I am not. Since it's only a matter of opinion it doesn't matter unlike real diseases like cancer that can actually harm and kill you. It's important to view the world in the correct way and use the proper categories. Knowledge (verifiable) versus opinion (unverifiable) is one the most fundamental distinctions and it was mentioned by Socrates and Plato around the 6th century BC.

Putting labels on people and using descriptive or derogatory terms for their behaviour, thoughts and emotions (which can be very painful of course) does not benefit anyone but the 'professionals' and attention-seekers nor does it lead to genuine medical treatment. If doling out pills proves it's a disease and those providing the pills are bona fide medical doctors drugdealers are actually MD's treating a wide variety of illnesses.

Psychiatric diagnosis' are about as real as possession by the devil. If you believe they're real they become reality to you but belief does not equal knowledge.

To avoid any misunderstanding: I do not deny suffering of any kind but I do deny mental distress/suffering is a symptom of various mysterious illnesses that nobody ever actually observed and only arose due to changing interpretation of behaviour in relationship to socio-cultural norms.

Somebody could perhaps argue that even an illness such as cancer or diabetes is considered a disorder only because it deviates from the ordinary(common) state of human organisms and that harmful is not well defined. Yes, cancer leads to death but so does depression in some cases though perhaps not so directly.

I agree with you though, because saying that somebody has cancer is an empirically verifiable claim and its definition is generally agreed upon since it's defined strictly in biological terms, and if it's in the patient's interest to survive, which usually is the case, then it makes sense to treat it.
Whereas most mental disorders aren't even well defined in that sense and their diagnosis usually isn't based on an objective medical analysis, but rather on patient's reports about themselves and an observation of their behavior, which then leads to an opinion about it.
In many cases it isn't even obvious that the "disorder" requires treatment such as a case of a suicidal person because if it's their desire to die, death is in their personal interest.

On the other hand, some people seem to find comfort in being diagnosed, perhaps because it allows them to place responsibility for their actions or circumstances on the disorder they're diagnosed with rather than on themselves. Someone might even like having that label to stick to their identity, which would perhaps explain the behavior of people who self diagnose with mental disorders.

 

[262653]

Am I displaying the sings of mental illness for wanting to die while my body tries it's best to survive, or it is my body that is physiologically sick for opposing my oh so rational ways to avoid harm? Pleasure/pain vs. blossom/wither. FIGHT!! *mortal combat music*

I think wanting die is a way to avoid harm, devised by rational brain. Primal brain: NOT APPROVED.

 

[irrelevant_string]

I think wanting die is a way to avoid harm, devised by rational brain. Primal brain: NOT APPROVED.

Yeah, I think so too. It's when selection for pain avoidance and approximate future predictions overshoots. Oh oh nature did an oopsie...

 

[EmptySteph62]

Persistent depressive disorder, major depressive disorder, severe anxiety disorder, panic disorder paranoia and psychosis (only during anxiety/panic attacks)

 

[Luchs]

Do you think youre actually mentally ill? Or is your desire to wanting to die rational? For example because of unbearable pain? Or other problems? Or are you really mentally ill? Maybe even more than depressed, like schizophrenic, or maybe even psychotic? I myself are depressed, but not severely depressed, just slightly depressed But im not really mentall ill, atleast not severely mentally ill. Do you want to kill yourself because of mental illness?

I have never been diagnosed with any mental illness. It could be because I'm perfectly fine, or because I don't want to visit a psychiatrist. In the last few months I've had a few moodswings and I feel like I'm slowly loosing touch with reality.

That has me worried, but not worried enough to visit a shrink.