Posts tagged mental illness.

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s.e. smith, I Hide My Mental Illness

(Read the whole post. It’s really worth it.)

Mental illnesses don’t take a break for the holidays. Here’s to all those suffering during the “most wonderful time of the year”

— David Steele, “Crazy talk: The language of mental illness stigma” http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/brain-flapping/2012/sep/06/crazy-talk-language-mental-illness-stigma (via allthesamedifferentbrain)

juggernaat:

The problem with a history of depression and anxiety is that you can never know if you’re “just having one of those weeks” or if you’re sliding back down into those places you swore you’d never go again.

your-royalshyness:

Here’s a link to the whole video: x

Here’s a link the the website: x

THIS IS THE FUCKING BEST.

Reblog this shit! Make it known.

— Paul Gilmartin, The Mental Illness Happy Hour (via magicfingers)

cassket:

1. Believe us when we talk about our craziness.

We know we’re crazy. It isn’t news to us. We know a thing or two about our own issues, and if you’re willing to live with us, it’d be great if you were also willing to talk to us about it and take us seriously. Not every bad mood is because we’re crazy. (Just like not every bad mood is because of PMS.)

There will be times we don’t see our own patterns –- but if you cannot believe us when we talk about our issues, then you make us doubt ourselves. You create an environment where we cannot trust ourselves, and we certainly cannot trust you.

We have to be able to trust you, because we won’t always see our own patterns, won’t always recognize that we’re slipping into mania or depression or paranoia or whatever our thing is. If we trust you, we can believe you if and when you point these moments out.

2. Give us some space.

Yes, we’re being irrational and freaking out –- but since we might not be able to control that reaction, let us have some time to just BE irrational. This might mean giving us literal alone time. Yes, it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating for us, too!

Basically, the whole point is that we aren’t in a rational frame of mind. While logic is my jam, I recognize that when I’m super emotional, logic doesn’t really stand a chance. That’s why Spock was so scared of emotion, y’all -– it’s powerful and it makes you do things that don’t make sense.

In the Rock, Paper, Scissors game of our responses, Emotion trumps Logic.

3. Don’t try to fix us.

We aren’t a weekend DIY project. Yeah, we’ve got our problems, but you aren’t going to solve them by telling us to just cheer up or to just stop worrying about it or *fill in the blank with useless advice here*.

This is especially true if we’re in the middle of an episode. I have a hard and fast policy against making major life decisions when I’m in the middle of a depressive phase because I make really bad choices when I’m depressed. If we’re freaking out and you’re pressing us to make decisions that are supposed to “fix” us… It’s not going to go well. And, yeah, I know it makes you feel helpless but it makes a lot of us feel helpless, too.

4. Understand that it isn’t about you.

You aren’t making us depressed or manic or paranoid. We probably like you very much if you are living with us. This just happens sometimes. It’s not going to end well for any of us, no matter how natural the urge to ask, if there’s a constant, “What did I DOOOOOOOOO?” interrogation going on.

Giving us some space is probably going to be good for you, too. Because it sucks to hang out with someone who is in an unbeatable funk. Take the time you need for yourself, too.

5. Understand that it REALLY isn’t about you (at least not in the moment).

Yes, it sounds selfish, but we’re kind of busy being depressed or manic or paranoid. Or whatever. And we’re probably not enjoying it. So while it’s totally and completely understandable that we’re being hard to live with, please understand if we don’t have a lot of sympathy to spare in the middle of a bad day.

That isn’t to say you should completely ignore it if we are jerks. Mentally ill people can DEFINITELY be jerks. But dealing with us is often a matter of timing — if we’re completely irrational, we aren’t going to have the mental resources to deal with how our behavior is making you feel. Give us that space — and then let’s talk it out later. Your feelings are valid and important.

6. Don’t guilt trip us.

The caveat to number 5 there is that when we’re talking about your feelings and what positive steps we can take to not be jerks, you can’t turn that into a post-mania (or whatever) punishment. A lot of mentally ill people feel some pretty overwhelming guilt, just for being the way we are. No one is saying you can’t be angry — but it’s all too easy to get caught in a vicious cycle in this situation.

Communication is the drum I constantly beat with Ed — even when we’re both angry, focusing on communicating instead of just venting (that’s what we have therapists for) helps us keep things productive. I tell him if he pisses me off and he does the same in return — and then we figure out how to fix it.

7. Please offer some reassurance.

A lot of crazy people have gone through life being rejected, at least in part, because of their craziness. A little reminder that you don’t think we’re awful people goes a long way. And if you DO think we’re awful people, well, it might be time to move out.

That’s not the end of the world. I think some folks, no matter how loving and amazing, aren’t good when they live together. You both need to be really honest about whether this is something you can handle.

8. Listen to us without judging us.

Obviously it’s going to be different for everyone, but externalizing thoughts can often serve as a very effective coping mechanism (hence, therapy for half my life). You don’t have to make anything better. You just need to hear us. This goes back to not trying to fix things for us.

I have a terrible habit: I turn every hypothetical into an absolute worst-case scenario. The number of times I have envisioned coming home and finding Ed dead, you don’t even know. It’s morbid and it’s awful, but it’s a coping mechanism, because I feel like I have some kind of plan in place to handle emotional devastation. I do it with other things, too, and sometimes Ed will try to talk me into more reasonable scenarios. That never actually works.

9. Understand that we are probably not going to get “better.”

At least not in any way that means we won’t be crazy anymore. We might learn better coping mechanisms, we might find a more stable routine. But we’re probably never, even with medication, going to be “normal.”

This is a big deal. I’m not trying to scare you or say that crazy people aren’t good long-term partners. But this is definitely not something that is going to ease with age. In fact, a lot of mental illness intensifies with age. If one of our crazy habits is a dealbreaker for you, understand that it is probably never going to go away.

10. Don’t go on about how awful crazy people are.

This should be pretty self-explanatory but just in case it isn’t: don’t tell us we aren’t crazy or try to draw lines between “good” crazy and “bad” crazy. Just don’t.

I know this gets touchy for some people. We’re inundated with talk about “the crazies” and gun control right now. While you and I know that “the mentally ill” are not a monolithic group, that kind of differentiation never gets showcased in the media. And, yeah, every time there’s talk about another “crazy” gunman, I feel unsafe. Because I’m crazy.

— Bassey Ikpi · Does That Make Me Crazy? Living With Bipolar II at xoJane (via billowingclouds)

Creativity is often part of a mental illness, with writers particularly susceptible, according to a study of more than a million people.

Writers had a higher risk of anxiety and bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, unipolar depression, and substance abuse, the Swedish researchers at the Karolinska Institute found.

They were almost twice as likely as the general population to kill themselves.

The dancers and photographers were also more likely to have bipolar disorder.

As a group, those in the creative professions were no more likely to suffer from psychiatric disorders than other people.

But they were more likely to have a close relative with a disorder, including anorexia and, to some extent, autism, the Journal of Psychiatric Research reports.

Lead researcher Dr Simon Kyaga said the findings suggested disorders should be viewed in a new light and that certain traits might be beneficial or desirable.

For example, the restrictive and intense interests of someone with autism and the manic drive of a person with bipolar disorder might provide the necessary focus and determination for genius and creativity.

Similarly, the disordered thoughts associated with schizophrenia might spark the all-important originality element of a masterpiece.

Dr Kyaga said: “If one takes the view that certain phenomena associated with the patient’s illness are beneficial, it opens the way for a new approach to treatment.

“In that case, the doctor and patient must come to an agreement on what is to be treated, and at what cost.

“In psychiatry and medicine generally there has been a tradition to see the disease in black-and-white terms and to endeavour to treat the patient by removing everything regarded as morbid.”

Beth Murphy, head of information at Mind, said bipolar disorder personality traits could be beneficial to those in creative professions, but it may also be that people with bipolar disorder are more attracted to professions where they can use their creative skills.

“It is important that we do not romanticise people with mental health problems, who are too often portrayed as struggling creative geniuses.

“We know that one in four people will be diagnosed with a mental health problem this year and that these individuals will come from a range of different backgrounds, professions and walks of live. Our main concern is that they get the information and support that they need and deserve.”