Don’t Stop Talking about Mental Disorders
December 21st, 2010 / http://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/dissociativeliving/2010/12/dont-stop-talking-about-mental-illness/
Near the bottom of the HealthyPlace homepage there’s an audio widget, bordered in
orange with the header Share Your Mental Health Experience.
If you have a spare three minutes, please play the clip titled “I Hear A Voice in My Head
” and listen to one woman poignantly illustrate why I write about
Dissociative Identity Disorder. This woman, like so many others, is struggling in
isolation with something she doesn’t understand.
“People act like it’s nothing,” she says. No matter the condition, there will always be
people who act like it’s nothing. Talking about mental illness,
publicly and honestly, is the only way I know to ease that kind of invalidation.
maliciously manipulative than consider that
Dissociative Identity Disorder is a legitimate psychiatric condition. ‘What is the
deal with DID?’ I wondered. ‘Why are so many people
determined to chalk my experiences up to anything but this diagnosis?’
Eventually I realized that the pervasive unwillingness to
acknowledge mental illness isn’t exclusive to DID. I’d wager that anyone
talking about mental illness has met with people who act like it’s nothing......
Because so many psychiatric disorders are extreme manifestations of
what everyone experiences from time to time,
it’s easy to see why some people believe mental illness is an inclination
towards the dramatic or simply a total lack of personal responsibility.
Fortunately, converting the non-believers has never been my goal.
futility and an utter waste of my time. Arguing the validity of
Dissociative Identity Disorder won’t help that woman who hears the
voice in her head. But what if she searched the web and found
a blog post from someone else who hears voices and knows how
distressing that can be? What if she came across just one person
who didn’t act like what she’s living with is nothing? Instead of invalidated
and dismissed, she might feel understood and taken seriously.
That won’t solve her problems, sure. But she might feel less alone with them.
Don’t Stop Talking about Mental IllnessWhether you have Dissociative Identity Disorder or some other mental illness,
there are people who will "act like it’s nothing", that you are "using it as an excuse to not work,
or get help, or sympathy".
That matters little to me than the encouragement,
support, and validation so many offer just by sharing their stories. To those people
I say thank you, and please don’t stop talking about mental illness.
orange with the header Share Your Mental Health Experience.
If you have a spare three minutes, please play the clip titled “I Hear A Voice in My Head
” and listen to one woman poignantly illustrate why I write about
Dissociative Identity Disorder. This woman, like so many others, is struggling in
isolation with something she doesn’t understand.
“People act like it’s nothing,” she says. No matter the condition, there will always be
people who act like it’s nothing. Talking about mental illness,
publicly and honestly, is the only way I know to ease that kind of invalidation.
Just Talking about Mental Illness Invites Negation
At first I was astonished that smart, educated people would rather believe I’mmaliciously manipulative than consider that
Dissociative Identity Disorder is a legitimate psychiatric condition. ‘What is the
deal with DID?’ I wondered. ‘Why are so many people
determined to chalk my experiences up to anything but this diagnosis?’
Eventually I realized that the pervasive unwillingness to
acknowledge mental illness isn’t exclusive to DID. I’d wager that anyone
talking about mental illness has met with people who act like it’s nothing......
- Anxious? Just stop worrying already.
- Depressed? Have some gratitude. You’ll feel better.
- Borderline Personality Disorder - symptoms are just cries for attention.
Because so many psychiatric disorders are extreme manifestations of
what everyone experiences from time to time,
it’s easy to see why some people believe mental illness is an inclination
towards the dramatic or simply a total lack of personal responsibility.
Fortunately, converting the non-believers has never been my goal.
When I tell the truth, it is not for the sake of convincing those who do not know it,
but for the sake of defending those that do.
- William Blake
Talking about Mental Illness for the Sake of the Mentally ill
I’ve long since realized that debating these attitudes is an exercise infutility and an utter waste of my time. Arguing the validity of
Dissociative Identity Disorder won’t help that woman who hears the
voice in her head. But what if she searched the web and found
a blog post from someone else who hears voices and knows how
distressing that can be? What if she came across just one person
who didn’t act like what she’s living with is nothing? Instead of invalidated
and dismissed, she might feel understood and taken seriously.
That won’t solve her problems, sure. But she might feel less alone with them.
Don’t Stop Talking about Mental Illness
there are people who will "act like it’s nothing", that you are "using it as an excuse to not work,
or get help, or sympathy".
That matters little to me than the encouragement,
support, and validation so many offer just by sharing their stories. To those people
I say thank you, and please don’t stop talking about mental illness.
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