Do you consider yourself mentally ill?

[Shant]

Yes, but I prefer 'crazy'.

I guess the word 'ill' just feels like it has connotations of weakness. I'm not any more stable these days, but I don't want to associate myself with weakness like that.

 

[Honda]

I see a potential problem with people who deny that they are unwell mentally and therefore refuse to seek professional help or consider medication. I tried to go it alone for years thinking it was just a matter of effort, I got nowhere. Do people have to be hospitalised to be considered physically sick? If we have a cold we are ill, if we have depression we are ill. Being mentally ill does not necessarily equate to being a raving lunatic

Define mentally Ill.. Cuz the way I see it.. Whenever I claim im Ill, I just sit there and wait for some solution, answer or some professional to fix things.. While everybody else moves ahead in life..

I dunno why we are all here from the 1st place. There are people out there that lost alot in life and still walk tall despite a history of failure, loss and pain.. I think the problem with people like us is we like the easy way out. We are not the 1st or the only ones with pain in this life some people had to go through fast worse yet they stood tall and survived..

I know a guy who lost his father for cancer and had to quit college to support his family.. He stood stong and hard..
I even know Iraqis who fled the Iraq during and after the war and lost their home, future, career and some of their family members yet they started over really well, I met alot of them in college..
I even know some friends in high school who got bullied/molested/abused far worse than I do and they managed to have a great life, date many women and became very confident and successful people wit lots of friends and connections...

While im sitting on my bitch ass trying to find an excuse like 'im sick'.. Now im seeing more and more that this is plain bull****, with respect to everyone here, no offense is intended...

Come to think about it, why on Earth could they manage to survive after going through many horrible things in life while I cannot? Maybe cuz im too scared to take action... Maybe cuz I am coward and I love being a coward cuz im too used to it.. BINGO..

Im tired of sitting at home and regretting things, Im going out there to face the living **** out of things.. Im tired of wasting time and life because im too hesitant or scared to embarras myself or put myself in a difficult situation.. While others are brave enough to go miles ahead regardless who or what they are..

I dunno if this hurt some of you here or pissed some of you off here but thats my conclusion..

 

[Kiwong]

Is there? Everyone is capable of affecting their body through their thoughts. Normal people blush, get butterflies in their stomachs, get aroused sexually, or get agitated when angry. Hypersensitivity, is what makes us have panic attacks. Fear of fear is what causes a panic attack, regular people have fear of fear, as well. They just aren't as sensitive to it as we are.

My oath there is. You finish up at an emergency ward because your thoughts have boiled over and given you a intense physical sensation of imminent death. Yep, there is something seriously going wrong, and you never want to experience it again.

Regular people don't regularly wind up in emergency wards convinced they are going to die when they are not. Panic attacks are an extreme physical manifestion of dysfucntional thinking, it can't be compared to any of the examples you provide.

I recognised my panic attacks as a mental illness, maybe you didn't. It was when panic started seriously affecting my capacity to live my life that I recognised this. I don't have them anymore, but are they are most horrible thing I have endured in my whole life. I knew there was something wrong and I took action to fix it, and that didn't involve medication.

 

[Remus]

I have SA and OCD and used to have panic disorder but I do not consider myself mentally ill, more dysfunctional. Mentally ill seems to me more like people with extreme mental health issues, who are a danger to themselves and others.

 

[Lccska]

I believe that the social stigma of "Mental Illness" is a menace. I think I am desensitized from the words. They don't bother me in the least. At one time they bothered me terribly. I thought I was going to end up in a rubber room and my kids were going to go to end up being social outcasts. Today, almost 20 years after my worst "flair up", I just consider it part of who I am. I go to work, I go to the grocery store, I attend Family functions, I drive, etc. I don't let my illness rule my life. Most people aren't aware that I even have an illness. The only ones who know are the people I have told. I always knew there was something "wrong" with me. I wasn't like everyone else. I was horribly shy, sad, withdrawn. When I could finally put a name to what I was going thru, it made me feel better. I could say "ok, this is what is wrong with me and now I have to learn how I'm going to live my life with it". You can't let the illness run your life. You have to manage the illness in order to live the life you want. I'll never be cured. I have mostly great days. But I know if I don't manage my illness, I'll go swirling down the proverbial tubes. It's not a "get out of jail free" card, nor is it a "go to jail for the rest of your life" card. Like any other illness, it's up to the person to decide what you're going to do with it. It was hard at first, and I had to do a lot of work on myself. But then I started to feel better and I had hope. It was all downhill from there.

 

[panicsurvivor]

My oath there is. You finish up at an emergency ward because your thoughts have boiled over and given you a intense physical sensation of imminent death. Yep, there is something seriously going wrong, and you never want to experience it again.

Regular people don't regularly wind up in emergency wards convinced they are going to die when they are not. Panic attacks are an extreme physical manifestion of dysfucntional thinking, it can't be compared to any of the examples you provide.

I recognised my panic attacks as a mental illness, maybe you didn't. It was when panic started seriously affecting my capacity to live my life that I recognised this. I don't have them anymore, but are they are most horrible thing I have endured in my whole life. I knew there was something wrong and I took action to fix it, and that didn't involve medication.

Actually I have to confess, that for over a decade, I have ALWAYS considered myself quite mentally ill. Because of everything you just said. Believe me I know EXACTLY what you are talking about. Up until a few months ago I had panic attacks every day for years. I actually had looked in to getting myself a lobotomy at one point. They did not just affect my capacity to live my life, they became a part of my life. Panic was sitting on my shoulder every day. So PLEASE don't think that I was belittling you, or your condition. I would be belittling myself, and making ten years of my own intense pain and difficulty seem cheap. I have nothing but respect for you and always have since I have been on this forum. I personally think that the symptoms, panic disorder causes is just about the worst thing someone can go through. Kind of like being raped on a daily basis. But I think that the cause is actually kind of small.
Fear. Fear is not insane.
You would have to be insane, to not be afraid of those panic attacks. We are able to make our bodies believe that they are in mortal danger, and act accordingly. It sucks but there it is. And all though when it happens to us, it feels like the worst thing in the universe, it really isn't. It is just sensations and it does end after at the very most 20 minutes. It is how we deal when we are not having them that really counts.
Anyway, I think a person that can beat panic disorder, and run for miles and miles, is not ill. I think they are bad ass. Doing it without meds, in my opinion proves my point. I think a truly ill person needs meds to have any kind of normal life at all.
But that's all that it comes down to in the end. Opinion. Point of view. You have yours, and I have mine. Just remember my opinion of YOU is high!!