Essured:
Sure!. Read the kickoff narrative.
Well, I’ve still got no idea if there are proportionately more people with mental illness on the boards than I know IRL.
After doing a fair bit of reading about the subject, I’ve figured out one thing. I notice the posts about mental illness more than I notice posts about obesity, money problems, marital problems, etc. I also think I know why. I’m not sure if I’d go so far as to say I’m afraid of those with mental illness, but I’m definitely uneasy and uncomfortable with the idea. I apologise if I have offended anyone with my posts in this thread. If I did, it was unintentional. As soon as I have some more spare time, I will be researching the subject, in an effort to move past my unease.
Thanks.
Many people are: that’s why a lot of us choose to stay “closeted” IRL, and why, as I said earlier, you won’t see many people wearing the “I’m a loony” sign when they probably could. You probably wouldn’t pick me out as being mentally ill in the street, but I am, to a defined extent: very few people, outside close friends and immediate family {and, of course, the relatively anonymous SDMB} know my problems - clinical depression, generalised anxiety disorder and prescription tranquiliser addiction {the latter isn’t a mental illness, but definitely the consequences of a couple}.
I keep them closeted because there’s still a huge amount of stigma attached to any degree of mental illness: you tend to be either viewed as a potentially dangerous nutcase or the possessor of a “weak” and fragile personality unable {or unwilling} to cope with the rough-and-tumble of everyday life. There’s often an attitude of “Well, if it’s only in in your head, you could get over it if you wanted to” which you’d almost never get with a physical disability.
Sadly, this attitude often affects people’s attitude to their own mental problems - there’s a feeling of guilt and denial at being “weak” which prevents people from seeking help, and in itself exacerbates the problems: I was in denial about some {in retrospect very obvious, to myself at least} problems for over twenty years - indeed, I developed the habit of pushing myself too hard in order to prove that I was “normal”, until it finally blew up in my face and I ended up in hospital with a couple of bandaged wrists.
If I could “get over it” I would do it tomorrow, even if I had to lose an arm to do it: as it is, I have to accept that my problems are an illness like any other - they’re not my fault, and they can be treated or contained with medication, behavioural therapy, and the right attitude {and, thank God, the love of a good woman, to whom I very literally owe my life}.
That’s why I joked before about being a “loony” - I have to recognise my looniness for what it is: a problem, but not an insurmountable one, and one I’m determined to incorporate into myself, poke fun at it when I’m able to, and hang on tight when I’m not.
Bipolar type 2 checking in. I go to message boards for information (although I take most things with a grain of salt) and support. It helps to know that you are not all that different. Some type of validation occurs, I guess. And as for the percentage on message boards vs. the real world - I call everyone else the GUMs
(great undiagnosed masses), because so much of the human race if “off” in some way, they just may not recognize it or want to accept it. I was diagnosed 6 years ago, spent 2 long years on disability (I was so mucked up that I received my social security benefits on the first try, without having to appeal any rulings), and now I am controlled enough on meds that I am able to work 2 jobs. I like to think that my little story may offer hope to someone else who feels like life will always suck.
one Of Us! One Of Us!
:dubious: