Citruscine
dead in the head
- Mar 8, 2022
- 53
// Stream of consciousness rant about the stigmatization of mental illness
With the internet and social media, mental illness is now much more visible, but not less stigmatized.
When you give a reason as to why you missed school or work, physical illness tends to be seen as more "valid" of a reason. There is some inherent skepticism when in comes to mentioning your lack of attendance / performance is because you were depressed as opposed to being physically ill.
In the case of more common mental illnesses like depression and anxiety, many conflate the terms to mean day-to-day fleeting experiences like sadness or worry, reducing the severity of the terms. This results in people either outright claiming that you are lying or people not properly understanding how debilitating the diagnoses can be and saying things like: "Stop overreacting" or "You're just being lazy".
On the other hand, more uncommon mental illnesses like schizophenia and DID are dramatized and villainized especially in pop culture media, making people with those mental illnesses seem dangerous to other people when in reality, they are most likely most in danger of themselves.
To add to this, attitudes held by older generations borne of their upbringing in which vulnerability of expressing emotion, being overcome by "internal" struggles, or really anything other than stoicism is viewed as being weak. In today's society, stigma seems to create a feedback loop wherein despite rising rates of depression and anxiety, people do not have candid conversations about mental illness and are forced to seek help not in community but privately with a therapist, resulting in further lack of visibility.
This is not to say that physical illness was never stigmatized — In history, diseases and conditions such as leprosy and AIDS were the subject of intense stigma within societies. But nowadays, with increased knowledge in the field of medicine, physical illness is largely believed to be out of one's control and not attributed to one's morality (e.g. being cursed by god, being a sinner, being gay).
However, current people with mental illnesses such as cluster B personality disorders (antisocial, histrionic, narcissistic, borderline PD) are commonly viewed as being inherently evil, toxic, immoral, etc. They are not exempt from the consequences of their actions, but they should still be afforded the opportunity to unlearn their negative behaviours and grow as a person as much as anyone else.
Everyone can understand physical pain, but internal experiences and the concept of mental anguish is completely subjective. Those with mental illness are expected to simply "get over it" through sheer will power, but these expectations come from a neurotypical conceptualization and experience of "will power". There is still a lot to be found out with regards to the human brain, making the understanding of mental illness from a medical perspective a lot more difficult.
No conclusion other than shit sucks lol. I word vomited this on the bus
With the internet and social media, mental illness is now much more visible, but not less stigmatized.
When you give a reason as to why you missed school or work, physical illness tends to be seen as more "valid" of a reason. There is some inherent skepticism when in comes to mentioning your lack of attendance / performance is because you were depressed as opposed to being physically ill.
In the case of more common mental illnesses like depression and anxiety, many conflate the terms to mean day-to-day fleeting experiences like sadness or worry, reducing the severity of the terms. This results in people either outright claiming that you are lying or people not properly understanding how debilitating the diagnoses can be and saying things like: "Stop overreacting" or "You're just being lazy".
On the other hand, more uncommon mental illnesses like schizophenia and DID are dramatized and villainized especially in pop culture media, making people with those mental illnesses seem dangerous to other people when in reality, they are most likely most in danger of themselves.
To add to this, attitudes held by older generations borne of their upbringing in which vulnerability of expressing emotion, being overcome by "internal" struggles, or really anything other than stoicism is viewed as being weak. In today's society, stigma seems to create a feedback loop wherein despite rising rates of depression and anxiety, people do not have candid conversations about mental illness and are forced to seek help not in community but privately with a therapist, resulting in further lack of visibility.
This is not to say that physical illness was never stigmatized — In history, diseases and conditions such as leprosy and AIDS were the subject of intense stigma within societies. But nowadays, with increased knowledge in the field of medicine, physical illness is largely believed to be out of one's control and not attributed to one's morality (e.g. being cursed by god, being a sinner, being gay).
However, current people with mental illnesses such as cluster B personality disorders (antisocial, histrionic, narcissistic, borderline PD) are commonly viewed as being inherently evil, toxic, immoral, etc. They are not exempt from the consequences of their actions, but they should still be afforded the opportunity to unlearn their negative behaviours and grow as a person as much as anyone else.
Everyone can understand physical pain, but internal experiences and the concept of mental anguish is completely subjective. Those with mental illness are expected to simply "get over it" through sheer will power, but these expectations come from a neurotypical conceptualization and experience of "will power". There is still a lot to be found out with regards to the human brain, making the understanding of mental illness from a medical perspective a lot more difficult.
No conclusion other than shit sucks lol. I word vomited this on the bus
