Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Another Post on Social Phobia

I got another shout-out on Social Phobia: The Light at the End of the Tunnel today. This one deals with the stigma of mental illness and why most people just don't understand it. For those of you following my tidbit descriptions of the issue, this one makes use of the comparison between mental and physical complaints. The linchpin of it was: "When your mind is bleeding to death, most people can't see that kind of blood."
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  • 11 comments
glitteringlynx

glitteringlynx

August 16 2009, 16:08:19 UTC 11 years ago

Naturally, I posted a comment.
ysabetwordsmith

Thank you!

ysabetwordsmith

August 17 2009, 01:09:28 UTC 11 years ago

I'm sure the blogger there will appreciate that.
raven_ap_morgan

raven_ap_morgan

August 16 2009, 18:18:50 UTC 11 years ago

You're right in that because most people don't identify with mental illness the way they do with physical illness, they make a number of assumptions about it, most of them unwarranted or false. I would also maintain that mental illness is different in kind than simply an exaggeration of "normal" mental states - mood disorders are qualitatively different than emotional experiences or even "moodiness", as an example.

Raven
ysabetwordsmith

Hmm...

ysabetwordsmith

August 17 2009, 01:13:35 UTC 11 years ago

I think some mental illnesses are different in kind, but many are different in degree. For example, consider a spectrum of aggression. Someone who has no aggression cannot stick up for themselves appropriately. Someone who has too much aggression can't rein it in enough to interact appropriately. A healthy person has enough aggression to get angry when the situation calls for it, but not let that get out of hand and destroy their life. And those boundaries vary depending on social context; some cultures tolerate a lot more aggression than others.

Both types of mental imbalance can cause confusion: if different in kind, people don't understand it at all; if different in degree, people don't understand why it isn't controllable because they can control their degree of it.
raven_ap_morgan

Re: Hmm...

raven_ap_morgan

August 17 2009, 02:44:42 UTC 11 years ago

I'm not sure your example holds in the context. To some extent, you are correct in your analysis of aggression, I'm not sure that the extremes of aggression by themselves qualify as mental illness, though they may be part of a larger diagnosis.

For example, as part of my personality, I have almost no temper whatsoever - I personally see a loss of temper as indicative of a loss of control of a situation and of oneself. Those rare times that I do lose my temper, it's my illness (bipolar disorder) speaking, not me.

I think one needs to make a distinction (as does the mental health community) between a personality that may not be well-adjusted (which can oftentimes be dealt with through various forms of talk therapy) and mental illness. In my experience, mental illness is a separate entity from personality, though the effects of mental illness can affect the personality, in the same way that physical illness can affect the personality.

Raven
fayanora

fayanora

August 17 2009, 00:10:56 UTC 11 years ago

Oh gods I love that quote!
ysabetwordsmith

Yay!

ysabetwordsmith

August 17 2009, 01:14:02 UTC 11 years ago

I'm glad you like it. Feel free to share if you wish.
fayanora

fayanora

August 17 2009, 00:11:49 UTC 11 years ago

I made a similar quote once, saying something like "Tears are when your soul bleeds through your eyes."
fayanora

Tweeted it!

fayanora

August 17 2009, 00:13:48 UTC 11 years ago

http://twitter.com/Fayanora/status/3352309467
elionwyr

elionwyr

August 17 2009, 02:48:37 UTC 11 years ago

That's a powerful quote. I just - wow.
ysabetwordsmith

Thank you!

ysabetwordsmith

August 17 2009, 03:21:33 UTC 11 years ago

If you find it useful, feel free to quote it.

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    Here's an article about conformity and evil. Now, we know that most humans are contextual and that evil spreads readily. But it leaves out…

  • Killer Asteroids

    There are a lot of them, and without advance preparation, Earth is defenseless. We need to get the Umbrella up.