mental illness and mental well being

[Soulless_Angel]

Is there a difference between mental illness and mental well being,
I have googled and got a interesting response, what I am interested in is personal thoughts
The reason that brings me to this question, is so many now are saying that covid is making their mental health worse, which I respect. But when getting into a in depth conversations with people, they state/claim a bad day as they are struggling due to the lock down is the same as serious mental health issues such as Bipolar/BPD and more.
When asked to explain further without going into my own potential issues, they tell me that they understand a suicidal person because they simply cannot cope being at home due to this lock down.

These kinda conversations I'm too rummed up to go into detail right now, all I am interested in hearing is,

Do you believe there is a difference between mental health and mental health well being, or right now, are we all in the same place, does someone having a bad day due to this lock down have a right to compare, it to someone who's actively trying to end their life?

Does this question even make sense? I know most my posts here get ignored, I just hope one answers too allow me to have a thing from more then one perspective on this!

 

[BPD Barbie]

No, they are totally different in my opinion. I had something similar with Crohns Disease, people were telling me they had food poisoning once so knew how I felt. Totally different things.
Mental wellbeing VS Mental illness - that mental well being will be rectified as soon as lockdown ends and their life returns to normal. In some cases, perhaps it leads to mental illness, but in the vast majority probably not. Mental illness will always be there, lockdown or not, when it ends my life doesn't magically get better, it stays the same, I remain mentally ill with BPD and Bipolar.

 

[TheGoodGuy]

mental well being will be rectified as soon as lockdown ends

That´s actually true which makes me think about a recent article about a girl who the media dubbed the first suicide victim of the lockdown if that was in fact why she did it then it would actually mean "permanent solution for a temporary problem" would fit on her and that is a quote we all have heard been spewed our way by ignorant people. But for many of us our problems isn´t temporary whether it being physical or mental illnesses (which I have both) including chronical ones.

Had she just waited then her temporary problem would have fixed her mental well being but I am no one to judge the reasons why people ctb it´s totally subjective how much a person can handle.

 

[Cashewmilk]

No they're not the same at all... But to be honest, I can't know what neurotypical people are going through, just like they can't know what goes through my mind. I have no idea what it feels like to be normal. It's a ridiculous comparison... and I personally don't think everyone who's suicidal is mentally ill, look at older seniors who just want to end their lives, and there's other examples too like mentally ill who are on medication and feel cured from symptoms, but still want to ctb because this world sucks and life is hard... I just don't think they're connected as much as people think.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

Having a situational dip in your mental health is like floundering around in the water for a little while. It's possible to drown from this, but most people will get themselves out of the situation.
Having a serious chronic mental health condition is like drowning every day and every night, never being able to come up for air, but still being expected to get on with it.
Also, the two things, whilst wildly different, are not mutually exclusive.
A managed chronic mental health condition can be tipped into crisis by a short term situational dip in mental well being.
But, to add even more complexity, a long term condition often doesn't actually need a catalyst to get worse. Sometimes deterioration can happen precisely because the condition is well managed.
For example, my health issues aside, I can be doing relatively well and suddenly sink into my underlying depression, precisely because I am doing quite well, but it's not good enough, I want to be better, normal and with the life I once had.
A taste of normality and positivity can sometimes make me feel even worse precisely because I know that this taste is most likely the best I will ever get.
TLDR...a chronic MH condition is far more complex and persistent than a loss of mental wellbeing.