Do you consider yourself mentally ill?

[Mickery]

Exactly. In fact, defining the term is almost irrelevant. Your behaviour remains the same regardless of what you call it. A better question would be whether you consider your experience to be unusual to the point of distress, which I assume would universally be true. Otherwise nobody would be here.

 

[coyote]

a finger pointing at the moon is not the moon

words describing a certain situation are not that situation

we are who and what we are, regardless of the words we use to describe ourselves

sometimes the words just get in the way

having said that, i don't think there's anything wrong with me "mentally"

i prefer to describe myself as "suffering from an emotional disorder"

 

[Pookah]

So its social anxiety behavior euphemism euphemism etc etc.

 

[Rot]

What I don't like about calling myself mentally ill is the defeatism it implies. I feel it like: I'm ill, so that excuses all, there's not so much I can do about it, poor of myself. I find it very self-commiserating.

Of course it's a question of view, but I just never wanted to consider myself mentally ill. Yes, I have problems. Many other people have, we are not the persons with most problems in the world. We have this handicap and we have to fight against it. I'm sure anyone of us have anything great that other people don't have.

Maybe I'm too optimistic and obstinate, but that's how I see it...

 

[dancingintherain]

No way! I refuse to believe that I saw a counselor once and she said something like "which isn't good for your mental health" :O no, this is just a behavior pattern for me and being sensitive.

 

[Deus_Ex_Lemur]

The whole illness word trips ppl up, it's a shame. It's not the best word to use to describe states of Mental health. Mental Health, you aren't well mentally then something's wrong, dont say illness, fine, but we need more mental health awareness and help as a society and there is no shame or negative of admitting this. We lack the help for many issues and awareness. Illness doesnt just equate to medication. Imo. These stigma's are exactly what keeps things from moving forward.

 

[kihira]

YouTube - ‪Removing The Stigma of Mental Illness‬‏

 

[Feathers]

No.

I consider myself a person with maybe some troubles, some health and yeah maybe mental health problems too, these can come and go though, it's not like it's 'permanent' or 'incurable' or anything... Health and mental health problems can be intertwined, body-mind can influence each other, nutrition and other lifestyle factors can have a role in both...

I think not enough psychologists or doctors recognize the role of nutrition and healthy lifestyle or know much about it... Not enough is done on prevention of these things...

Labels can be good if you don't know what is wrong with you and how to change it, cause you can find other people who have been through the same/similar and have managed to get better or who can help... (That's why I came here, to find how other people deal with this and how to overcome it lol)

CBT says labels can be bad if you like put yourself into a category and don't question it... There can be a factor of finding a 'drawer' to put yourself in and 'staying' in it...

I'm totally for anti-stigmatization of mental health problems... I think 'everyone has some troubles sometimes' is a much better approach than identifying with the particular labels too much...

If it helps you to say 'I'm mentally ill' and 'fight it' to get better, okay, by all means go for it, I think in comparison to many people my troubles are not so bad (even if some might disagree, at times )

Those DSM manuals change all the time, even professionals sometimes don't know how to go about something etc and of course we know what a neat and 'defined' category 'normality' is, right?

 

[Noop]

check, check, check, nope, nope, nope, check.

I love finger nail skin.

very odd, i don't eat my skin anymore because my nails would fall off. i play keyboards and piano and play records, so i need my fingers and hands in good nick now. can't smash them up like the old days

everything else, i'm working on::

 

[MaliceInWickedland]

I wouldn't say I'm Schizo or anything but I'm pretty sure I have few screws loose up there somewhere. I over-analyze things way too much for my own good and worry about things most people normally wouldn't worry about. Paranoia is a definite existence in my mind.

 

[HeadFace]

To be honest, yes. Aside from SA I really do feel like there is something completely wrong with me. It's why I'm all alone.

 

[Captain_Lethargy]

I take lil' pills for depression, but I don't really view myself as a mentally ill person any more than a person with low blood sugar is going to label himself as a hypoglycemic rather than a person with hypoglycemia. I'm a person with some mental illness symptoms-but not a mentally ill person. To me, there's a difference...I don't know, though. I do think it's unfortunate that all mental illnesses are lumped together, while at the same time, I feel guilty for possibly putting myself on a pedestal apart from people with more severe illnesses, if that makes any sense.

 

[Minty]

Yes. I can think of a thousand physical illnesses that would not have limited my quality of life the way my AvPD has. If it's not a mental illness, then I don't know what is.

People who are not willing to call themselves mentally ill because it will make them feel bad are the reason why chronic social anxiety and AvPD isn't getting the attention it deserves and why people tell us to "just deal with it". Because you are telling them, "But it's not an illness! It doesn't affect my life that much!"

And if it's true--if you aren't that affected by your social anxiety, then no offense but...what are you doing here? Seriously, no offense but hearing you complain and try to relate to people with severe AvPD or agoraphobia or depression--that's like hearing someone complain about their stubbed toe to someone in a wheel chair who will never walk again.

 

[Captain_Lethargy]

And if it's true--if you aren't that affected by your social anxiety, then no offense but...what are you doing here? Seriously, no offense but hearing you complain and try to relate to people with severe AvPD or agoraphobia or depression--that's like hearing someone complain about their stubbed toe to someone in a wheel chair who will never walk again.

I'm really sorry if I came across the wrong way. Mental illness stigma is a complicated issue, and maybe I didn't phrase it correctly. Everyone deals with it their own way-maybe I minimize my own symptoms too much. I don't know-I'm not trying to belittle anybody or try to tell other people how to feel or anything like that.

For the record, I used to have such severe anxiety that I had trouble getting out of bed. I dropped out of school and was essentially unable to work. I had a few really rough years from about 17-19, and for whatever reason, things are a lot easier for me now. I still have a bunch of self esteem problems and I over-think things.

I get the impression that everyone who posts here is in a different place in his or her life.

Oh, and if that wasn't directed at me, I'm also sorry if I assumed it was. There are a lot of "sorries" going around.

 

[Aussie_Lad]

I consider mental illness anything which holds you back in achieving what it is you want to achieve out of life. So from this angle then, yes, I am mentally ill. Having said this though, a lot of people are mentally ill. There is probably only a small percentage that are totally well in their heads. I am thinking of people like the Delai Lama, that just have a presence in the room. You can feel the energy levels rise when they are around.

 

[Minty]

I'm really sorry if I came across the wrong way. Mental illness stigma is a complicated issue, and maybe I didn't phrase it correctly. Everyone deals with it their own way-maybe I minimize my own symptoms too much. I don't know-I'm not trying to belittle anybody or try to tell other people how to feel or anything like that.

For the record, I used to have such severe anxiety that I had trouble getting out of bed. I dropped out of school and was essentially unable to work. I had a few really rough years from about 17-19, and for whatever reason, things are a lot easier for me now. I still have a bunch of self esteem problems and I over-think things.

I get the impression that everyone who posts here is in a different place in his or her life.

Oh, and if that wasn't directed at me, I'm also sorry if I assumed it was. There are a lot of "sorries" going around.

Oh no--that wasn't directed to you specifically. No need to apologize either for replying. Anyone is welcome to. I genuinely just want to understand. What made me cringe was when someone described it as being a "quirk" to their personality opposed to being a real problem. And maybe I was a little harsh...you should be allowed to vent here even if you're dealing with minimal anxiety. But it made me realize that I live on a completely different planet from some other people here. I wish I could call my anxiety a quirk.

 

[Pookah]

On some level I view parts of the SA and Asperger's as part of me, my personality. I am somewhat ok with it being who I am in terms of not really wanting to be around people and being introverted/introspective.

I am not ok with the panic attacks and fear and inability to achieve the level independence I would like.

The depression doesn't help and I've recognized that I deviate a good amount from the 'norm" and accept this is considered a mental illness.

No one is saying the illness can't be treated or adapted to. Just that it is an obstacle.

 

[Beatrice]

I'm not sure how to answer this.... What exactly constitutes an illness of the mind?

If it's simply a deviation from what is the "normal" or "average" behavior of human beings, in one or more facets, then yes, I suppose I would be considered mentally unwell.

The average person does not have constant anxiety, does not have intense irrational fear when interacting with others, and I'm sure most people, while they may get "pumped up" so to speak before and during a confrontation.... I'm sure they don't get so nervous that their mouth and tongue become numb, their breathing becomes exceptionally shallow, and their heart beats as fast as if they were running for their lives.

Yeah. Given the above, I guess I'd have to say I am ill..... or at least, certainly not right in the head. My brain is not functioning the way it "should"..... Pretty depressing ::

 

[Feathers]

Oh no--that wasn't directed to you specifically. No need to apologize either for replying. Anyone is welcome to. I genuinely just want to understand. What made me cringe was when someone described it as being a "quirk" to their personality opposed to being a real problem. And maybe I was a little harsh...you should be allowed to vent here even if you're dealing with minimal anxiety. But it made me realize that I live on a completely different planet from some other people here. I wish I could call my anxiety a quirk.

hmm, yeah, all sorts of people are on this website - for some, it's really minor...
or maybe some do have problems (or their family may see it as problems) but they personally don't feel it's such a big deal, especially when compared to some other people on this site or elsewhere?

I think it doesn't say this site is for severely agoraphobic people only, that's just one of the sub-forums... There are people with mild sa and perhaps more depression/OCD/other stuff here...

I think of myself as 'quirky'/eccentric too.. or artsy/creative... I don't want to be 'defined' by my problems, if that makes sense?

I think 'normality' is overrated and doesn't really exist, as mentioned elsewhere, a famous psychologist in our country wrote there may be just 2 'normal' people in the entire country and he's not sure for the 2nd one

Even mild sa or specific situations only can prevent people from doing what they want with their lives, if that makes sense... Or current environment may be unsupportive and support of a site like this may be greatly appreciated...

 

[Captain_Lethargy]

Oh no--that wasn't directed to you specifically. No need to apologize either for replying. Anyone is welcome to. I genuinely just want to understand. What made me cringe was when someone described it as being a "quirk" to their personality opposed to being a real problem. And maybe I was a little harsh...you should be allowed to vent here even if you're dealing with minimal anxiety. But it made me realize that I live on a completely different planet from some other people here. I wish I could call my anxiety a quirk.

Cool! All is well.