Article on People Who Don't Believe in Mental Illness

[justhope]

It's All in Your Head

And Other Thoughtless Things Said!



How often have you been accused of whining or being a hypochondriac? Do people think you are just a complainer, an attention-seeker, when depression makes it difficult for you to cope with daily life? Are you told that "there is absolutely nothing wrong with you"? Do people tell you to "get over yourself"? I am sure that everyone with bipolar disorder have had those completely thoughtless things said which we can quote verbatim five, ten and even thirty years down the road.

Sometimes those with whom we interact can be narrow-minded and cutting. And, for every person who says something deliberately hurtful to a person with mental illness, there are a dozen who say things thoughtlessly or out of ignorance. Unfortunately – regardless of intent - words wound, fester and scar.

The following is a short list of things people say that are often intended to be helpful, but are actually tactless. zSB(3,3)

Perhaps these will better equip you to respond to the thoughtless comments and to illustrate the need for each of us to better think through our word choices.

• What was said: It's all in your head. You are a hypochondriac.
  What may have been perceived: You are either completely deluded or making an excuse for poor behavior in order to get my sympathy. I don't believe in that psychiatric mumbo jumbo. I don’t believe that you actually have a real illness.
  The Fallacy: Mental health problems are the result of a character flaw or weak personality. Mental illnesses are not real diseases.
  The Facts: Bipolar Disorder is a medical illness with a physical cause probably rooted in structural or biochemical abnormalities in the brain. In short, it is very real just like diabetes or heart disease.

• What was said: We all go through times like this.
  What was perceived: You are overreacting. Stop making mountains out of molehills. You can't handle life as well as I can.
  The Fallacy: Everyone has the symptoms of Bipolar Disorder.
  The Facts: An article by David A. Kahn, M.D. and colleagues entitled Treatment of Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for Patients and Families offers an excellent perspective for addressing this fallacy. "We all experience a variety of moods—happiness, sadness, anger, to name a few. Unpleasant moods and changes in mood are normal reactions to everyday life, and we can often identify events that caused our mood to change. However, when we experience mood changes—or extremes—that are out of proportion to events or come 'out of the blue' and make it hard to function, these changes may be due to a mood disorder."

• What was said: Just shake it off.
  What was perceived: You've created this problem for yourself, so just get over it and move on. I am out of patience with you. Don't bother me with this again.
  The Fallacy: Everyone can and should control their emotions.
  The Facts:Bipolar disorder is a medical condition. Those with this disorder can no more snap out of it or shake it off then those with a broken leg.

• What was said: He must be demon possessed.
  What was perceived: I am righteous. You are not. Everyone who believes in God is perfect and does not struggle in life. You are a sinner and got what you deserved.
  The Fallacy: Bipolar Disorder is the result of misconduct.
  The Facts: Bipolar disorder is not your fault. It is not the result of something you did or didn’t do. "Bipolar disorder has no single proven cause, but research suggests the illness is due to abnormalities in the way some nerve cells in the brain function or communicate" (Kahn et al, 2004).

References

Kahn, D.A., Keck, P.E., Perlis, R.H., Otta, M.W., & Ross, R. (2004). Treatment of Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for Patients and Families. This is great. Boy have many of us dealt with this one. I heard it many times growing up, before and after ADD dx and before BPD dx...Good reading.
Some good reference links too!

[QueensU_girl]

These are statements from people who must not understand a thing about brain science. I'd say to them, "hello, read a book, eh?"

re: last part about Demons
In my Medical Philosophy class, we studied about how "beliefs" and "explanatory styles" vary thru the ages. The mental health & neurology field (I consider the body & mind to be the same thing) still has just not researched or explained things enough, or simply enuf for the average person to understand.

There is a lot of mental health "illiteracy" out there still.

Also, there is a lot of "Just World" [theory] thinking out there. Which "blames the victims" for their suffering, rather than looking for scientific [or social or developmental] explanations for ailments and how they are distributed among a population. (e.g. HIV. If people got it from a Blood Transfusion, then they are an 'innocent victim'. The SUBTEXT there implies that there are 'guilty victims', etc.)

Keep your chin up. (You are among the enlightened ones.)

[wizz95]

Hi, well my way of comprehending those statements and whatever, is by undrstanding that "we" who know and believe in who we realy are are above all these statements. we are wonderfull, each one of us is a god and we know what wer'e worth, others just dont know how to deal with us and this you see in every street corner, they do not exept the different, hence the human drama!
i believe that if and when i would have had the first knowledge of my condition and my uniqueness, i would have had a far better life, expiriences, relationships and on..
in fact these statements, these conversations, are being held between our and their "gremlins" who keep adding fuel to the fire, those gremlins are not US, they are those who control us if we dont tame them, and i have.
today i have ascended myself above these things and my say is that ive got alot more better things to do, to fulfill for myself and myself only.
i had felt and heard those statements so many times and they can lower you to such lows and furthermore they came from my family !!!

i believe in gremlin taming, it actualy works and got me to a state of flow i have never felt.

good luck to all and thumbs up