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Ahhh! That would be infuriating. After I was diagnosed I had some family start sending me "care packages" and taking to me like I was a little kid. Like I had cancer or something.

I also regularly have the problem of people assuming I don't know what I'm talking about because I'm mentally ill, especially if what I'm saying means they are wrong. They are automatically right because I'm mentally ill.

I'm going to post, here, an on-topic, well-phrased, and thought-out expansion to my last post.

My last post was "Have you guys taken your meds today?" And I may have had an XD or the like included.

There was a double-meaning to this post.

First, it was an on-topic reply, because I, others that I know, (and some of the people in this guild), have likely all been asked that question as a way of ending an argument when another person is annoyed with the argument itself - and I'm not even technically diagnosed with a mental illness or taking a prescription for anything. This is probably the single most infuriating reaction to ever have crossed my path, both as an insulting way to shed doubt on a person's clarity of thought, mental capacity, or ability to function intellectually, and as a way to weasel out of an debate or argument that usually the person asking that question is losing.

Secondly, I did not elaborate thereupon, because (as apparently it was, just not properly) I thought that the sentence itself would be reminiscent of the situation described in the above paragraph and thus be self-explanatory.

And, admittedly, I thought the irony of using the question itself as its own example and explanation was a bit humorous.

I am going to state this here as well:

I am sorry for the way my post may have come across, and will in the future attempt to explain such things.

I am a blunt, usually sarcastic, and sometimes incredibly harsh individual, but I do not post things (even such things as my last post here) as trolling. I am not a troll, and I would not have joined this guild for that purpose.

In the future, those who read my posts should be aware that if it comes across as inflammatory, that is because they are misunderstanding my purpose.

I posted it because it was an on-topic, accurate reply, as a direct answer to the last question in the original post.

"So, what kind of horrible reactions have you guys gotten when you told someone about your mental illness?"

"Have you (guys) taken your meds today?"

That is the worst, most infuriating, and awful reaction that I've ever seen, heard, or of which I've been a subject.

That is all.

I'm not mentally ill. However I am quite knowledgeable about it and plan to work with the mentally ill.

It pisses me off how society pushes people like you away and avoids you guys as if you are contagious. Honestly, I know many people who are mentally "ill" (if you want to use that term). I don't have a problem with mental illness, and am quite adamant about the treatment of the ill.

Essentially, the key reason why people act that way is ignorance. The media publicizes the dangerously insane and overdramatizes everything. This puts a thought into everybody's head of, "Oh my God, this person is schizo! They're going to kill me and my family!"

Horror movies don't help either with this. And yet, these same people who are influenced by the media give 0% effort to search for truth. All they can tell you about mental illness is what movies say (that's why after "Inception" came out, everybody became an expert on sleep studies all of the sudden. It's not about mental illness, but shows the real influence of our society). And yet with every new psychological movie released, people parrot new facts on a daily basis.

Society avoids that which they cannot explain or what they cannot control. They don't see mental hospitals as facilities to help the mentally disturbed learn to live WITH their illness. They see them as facilities that "lock up the crazies". It sickens me and I hate it. Just because there's something going on in your brain, it doesn't make you any less human.

I sincerely am sorry for the sort of crap you have to put up with. But if you ever need a friend or want to talk, feel free to message me. I'll send you a friend request. smile

Actually, a lot of horror movies are made around the premise of insanity, especially schizophrenia. This is what causes the misconceptions about the mental defect. And what causes such rejection of it. The media's influence on our understanding of the world is ridiculous. Notice that after Monk came out as a TV show, nearly EVERYBODY suddenly became OCD?

It's called hypochondriasis (aka Medical Student Syndrome). It basically is when you study a disease or hear about it, and start to believe you have it because you exhibit one or two symptoms and blow it out of proportion. The media basically causes the same reaction in the mass populace.

Inception- Everybody becomes an expert on sleep studies.
Monk- Everybody becomes Obsessive-Compulsive.
Lie to Me- Everybody becomes an expert on body language.
CSI (and other murder mystery shows)- Everybody becomes an expert killer.
Law & Order- Everybody becomes a lawyer.

These are just a few examples. I think that we need less movies with the premises of mental illness, because they will dramatize the reality of it to appeal to the viewers. This will cause even further misconceptions in the peoples' minds.

have youever read anything by Nancy Mairs? I'd suggest her Essay, Disability, which about exactly this kind of thing.

anywho, I'll respond to this more in depth in just a little bit, I'm multitasking (something I'm only just learning how to do), and feeling extremely upset right now... it's hard for me to focus.