# Your Choice: Mental or Physical Illness **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 11, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141 "2008-01-11T16:30:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![9thFloor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/9/b487fb/32.png) [@9thFloor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/9thFloor)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/1 "2008-01-11T16:30:55Z")
If you had to choose between being mentally or physically ill – to relatively similar degrees of severity in each case – which would you choose? In both cases, you would know that you’re ill and would be suffering from it. Also assume that in either case the illness is equally and absolutely untreatable. …and your choice is? ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/2 "2008-01-11T16:43:53Z")
Untreatable, and uncurable? I’d go with the physical. I like my mind too much. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/3 "2008-01-11T16:57:29Z")
Physical. Because if it gets too much I will still have enough of my mind to take care of it. Mental illness sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Mytoehurts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Mytoehurts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mytoehurts)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/4 "2008-01-11T18:55:01Z")
Definitely mental. Being sociopathic or narcissitic would be great fun. Being a dwarf or missing a leg, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/5 "2008-01-11T19:08:36Z")
Being a dwarf can suck, but I wouldn’t consider it an illness per se. I’d go with physical. I’ve been depressed before. I’d as soon pass on that again. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/6 "2008-01-11T19:15:43Z")
Physical. My mind is too exquisite to give up. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/7 "2008-01-11T19:18:01Z")
Physical. People don’t forgive you for mental illness. ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/8 "2008-01-11T19:24:08Z")
Phsyical–at least you still have your mind and facilities I have known too many people with mental illness–it is not pretty ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/9 "2008-01-11T19:33:02Z")
I think only people who have never experienced it in any way would say “mental”. They may think that those with a mental illness can either just take a pill or are just happy all the time. Not so. Mental illness is a type of hell that no one should experience. ---
**Author:** ![Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sticks_and_scones/32/16951_2.png) [@Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sticks_and_Scones)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/10 "2008-01-11T19:36:13Z")
I would definitely pick physical. A mental illness can definitely destroy your perspective of what is real or not. It’s tiring to play mind games with yourself and not be able to trust your own thoughts and feelings. ETA: What **ASAKMOTSD** said exactly. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/11 "2008-01-11T19:36:20Z")
Physical. I would hope the people that love me will still do so if I’m physically or mentally ill. But with the latter, there’s no guarantee that I would know or be aware of that love. That would be immeasurably worse. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Blue-Sighted\_Shadow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@The\_Blue-Sighted\_Shadow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Blue-Sighted_Shadow)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/12 "2008-01-11T19:42:23Z")
Physical. I would swap for say, diabetes, in a heartbeat, no question. You don’t have “explain” a physical illness the same way you do mental illness. People may forget you have diabetes or no longer notice the crutches, but they will \*never \* forget that you were depressed/bipolar/schizophrenic, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Pixilated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aeb1de/32.png) [@Pixilated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixilated)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/13 "2008-01-11T21:13:56Z")
Physical - especially from a legal standpoint, as well as insurance/medical coverage. ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/14 "2008-01-11T22:01:21Z")
Physical - I know I’d have loving people around me and taking care of me through any hardship, but I wouldn’t put them through “losing” me to mental illness. If my body is broken, I’m still there, I’m still the person they love. Mental ilness can take that away. ---
**Author:** ![fatgail](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fatgail/32/7285_2.png) [@fatgail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fatgail)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/15 "2008-01-11T22:02:30Z")
[QUOTE=Mytoehurts] Definitely mental. Being sociopathic or narcissitic would be great fun. [/QUOTE] Yes, well, let me be the first to tell you that mental illness isn’t like the movies. It comes with unbearable isolation, loneliness, and misery. Also, narcissism isn’t a mental illness, so I venture to say you don’t even know what the H you’re talking about. I have the great fortune to suffer from both mental illness and a relatively incurable physical malady. Every day I have to make the choice to feel normal or happy, to do things as simple as grocery shop or go out with friends. EVERYTHING is difficult, and if I wanted to, I could have something to complain about for every minute of the day. But given the choice, I’d rather be rid of my mental illness, because I can remember when I didn’t have it and it breaks my heart to look back on a happy, fulfilling, content, confident youth and know I’ll never have that again. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/16 "2008-01-11T22:51:16Z")
Definitely physical; people are much more sympathetic/understanding of a physical illness than of something they can’t actually see. People with an anxiety disorder or some type of phobia are often just told not to worry about it or to suck it up. Mental illnesses are just as serious as physicall illnesses. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/17 "2008-01-11T23:13:43Z")
I don’t have that choice - I’ve got the mental. I’d rather be an amputee, or suffering some other obvious physical ailment. Not only for the reasons others have mentioned upthread, but because people don’t tell, say, the amputee to “Just get over it, you’ve got everything going for you!” Plus, you’re allowed to be cranky in public. And that’s a huge perk from my point of view. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/18 "2008-01-12T01:01:27Z")
Physical. I have suffered mental illness-OCD, and it’s pure hell. I also suffer from epilepsy. I can deal with that far better than the OCD. Seizures aren’t constant like obsessions are. ---
**Author:** ![placebo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e274bd/32.png) [@placebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/placebo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/19 "2008-01-12T02:04:42Z")
[QUOTE=ASAKMOTSD] I think only people who have never experienced it in any way would say “mental”. [/QUOTE] I have and I’ll still take mental anguish over physical pain any day. Not to trivialize the suffering of the mentally ill, but physical illnesses are no walk in the park either. ---
**Author:** ![Purgatory\_Creek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@Purgatory\_Creek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purgatory_Creek)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141/20 "2008-01-12T02:26:37Z")
I’m agreeing with the majority here. I’d much rather have a physical ailment than a mental illness, and I know whereof I speak. A severe physical illness is nothing to take lightly, of course, but I believe there are much more effective treatments for most effects of physical illness than there are for “mental” diseases. Treatment for mental illness is still pretty damned hit and miss, and the misses can be devastating. Then, of course, there is the credibility issue. Going to a new provider for help with a mental illness is really much easier if you just bring your own lie detector. It cuts down significantly on the :dubious: time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-choice-mental-or-physical-illness/433141.md?page=2)