Real World Event Discussions

Tiny survey/research question if anyone feels like helping

POSTED BY: PhoenixRose
UPDATED: Tuesday, October 4, 2011 01:37
VIEWED: 5670
PAGE 3 of 8

RIONAEIRE

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 1:18 AM

Again my response probably isn't the norm since I work in this field and have a mental illness myself, and not an interesting or creative one either, no dragons on the road for me, :( I'd rather have any other one than the one I have. But anyways, when I hear those words I think of what I have, because its so unpleasant and has no redeeming qualities, no one with my disorder is ever what I'd consider touched, especially in the form I have it. I'd much rather have something else. The term is kind of depressing really. But also the term peaks my interest when I hear it, once I get passed my own experiences. Because I love working in this field andI'm good at it and I feel like I make a positive difference every day for the people I work with/assist/give resources to. So it evokes both an unpleasant feeling about my own brain's situation and also a good feeling since I enjoy working in the mental health field.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

LILI

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 3:26 AM

Hmm... Medication, I guess.

Facts are stubborn things.

PHOENIXROSE

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 4:37 AM

Okay, this was good. (well, mostly.) Thanks, guys, I think I can safely put my postulation down on paper without it seeming baseless. Paper's not due for a week, though, if anyone else wants to chip in.

What reason had proved best ceased to look absurd to the eye, which shows how idle it is to think anything ridiculous except what is wrong.

RIONAEIRE

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 5:58 AM

Did we come up with the answers you sought? Did we come up with the answers you expected?

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

THEHAPPYTRADER

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 6:09 AM

To insure my impartialness i'm responding before reading any replies so apologies if I'm repeating someone.

Nonadaptive if that is a word

I believe everyone has their own unique quirks and ways of Doug things but would not consider one of those traits to be a mental disorder unless it impedes their ability to live a healthy life. If you don't use ilness and disorder interchangeably I have another answer.

I believe a mental illness is a disorder (as defined above) that can be somehow physically observed in the brain itself. In other words, there must be more than just behavioral evidence.

FREMDFIRMA

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 9:34 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by PhoenixRose:
What is the very first thing you think when you see or hear the words mental illness? Just word-associate it for me.

Bunk, Fraud, Misdiagnosis.

To expound on that, we've expanded to official diagnosis of "mental illness" to the point were it encompasses a substantial amount of ordinary behavior which by any reasonable standard would fall within the bounds of "normal", or even weird-but-functional, and thus done a tremendous disservice to those which critical disabilities which prevent normal functioning by way of trivialising that definition and demeaning it.

So when I hear the term my immediate visceral reaction is more or less "bullshit!" followed by a demand for evidence to support that diagnosis - which in my experience with specific realms of it, usually amounts to "Does not obey." - which by THAT standard, clearly makes me quite, quite insane...

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

AURAPTOR

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 9:48 AM

" crazy "

" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

NIKI2

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 3:30 PM

You know what I find interesting? That most of those who responded have a decent grasp of mental illness as not just "crazy", but something real, and more than that, most of them recognize it's a difficulty for the person who has it, not that they're "bad".

Quote:
I believe everyone has their own unique quirks and ways of Doug things but would not consider one of those traits to be a mental disorder unless it impedes their ability to live a healthy life. If you don't use ilness and disorder interchangeably I have another answer.

I believe a mental illness is a disorder (as defined above) that can be somehow physically observed in the brain itself. In other words, there must be more than just behavioral evidence.

Really good, Happy.

Nick:

Quote:
A person who's view and or understanding of the world does not allow them to function in society.

Pretty damned close. I'd caveat that to say "SOMETIMES does not", because it's usually not an "always" thing, but you got the central point: "function". Mental illness is only diagnosable as such, according to the DSM-IV, if it interferes with functioning.

And DT,

Quote:
"inability to cope with dominant social structure or inability to conform to social norms by choice when required to do so."

Also excellent.

Also good, NewOld:

Quote:
it has something to do with not perceiving the world in a realistic fashion.

I'm impressed at the lack of ignorance people here show. Of course, most ARE pretty knowledgeable about many things, but we in the mentally-ill community are so accustomed to the long-standing stigma and ignorance about mental illness that I guess I expected to see more of it. Maybe I'm getting behind the times, and wouldn't that be lovely!

And Wulf, you rocked me back on my heels with

Quote:
pretty much anyone who has ever done anything worth doing, and in the process pushed us all further than we ever thought possible...

was called crazy by some low, short-sighted, ignorant, assclown.

Mental-illness? Sometimes its a just handle... other times, its a way of boxing in those better than the name-givers.

I'd never in my wildest dreams have believed YOU'd say something like that. It's quite true, in its way, and there's a highly-respected author by the mental-health community who wrote a book about that very thing, called "Touched by Fire". She postulates that we are the "aberrant gene" in the gene pool who will try something "normal" people wouldn't, which leads to forward progress, and are thus an important part of society. It's an excellent and well-written book; Kay Jamison was the first person accredited in the field of psychiatry to "out" herself as mentally ill, and her own story (her first book) is really illuminating.

I also liked

Quote:
What one is labeled with when they can't grasp the entirety (the depth and breadth) of your thoughts.

If you mean "THEIR" thoughts...the sentence is a bit confusing, but I'm guessing that's what you mean, given MOST of us can't grasp others' thoughts. ;o)

All in all, I'm impressed! And I thank you; the decades of stigma and ignorance have done so much damage to so many, I'd LOVE to believe times are changing!

Geezer, just to say, "mental illness" isn't the same as "mental retardation", which is what you seem to be describing.

And Sig, while Schiz is the most dramatic and probably best known mental illness, in my opinion the far-less-recognized Borderline is the most awful one. Schizophrenia can be treated with meds, and i know quite a few who lead functional lives, but Borderline can only be "cured" with therapy (tho' meds can be used to mitigate it somewhat), and having known a few, my heart goes out to them deeply.

Why do PN and Raptor's respons

AURAPTOR

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 3:38 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:

Why do PN and Raptor's responses not surprise me in the least?

Still ignoring my posts, huh? We see how well that's working out for ya.

I participated in the 'tiny' survey, by giving the first word that came to mind upon reading the question. I didn't elaborate, just have an honest, to the point reply to the topic.

Don't really know what point you're trying to make, w/ your irrelevant and petty snark. Did I critique anyone else's comment ? What makes you feel the need to add your 2 cents to MY reply ?

Got a question ? Ask. If not, how about just let the one doing the survey worry about what responses were given.

Thanks.

*edit * - I see that newoldbrowncoat gave the same response as I did, earlier in the thread, though I didn't see it. Odd how you commented on MY reply, but not NOB's.

Yep, just keep on ignoring me, Niki. You're so good at it!

" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

NIKI2

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 3:41 PM

P.S. I found it interesting, Rose, that you put this up when you did. I've had it okay for a long time now, and just a couple of days ago realized I'm going into a depressive episode. So many of the things people offered fit right now...not in anything regarding my behavior in the outside world (mostly because I avoid it!), but in my thinking; how everything seems to hopeless and black, my total lack of motivation (haven't even gotten the huskies anywhere but the dog park for three days), physical sensations, and last night sitting there starting to cry for no reason whatsoever. Bah. I hate being reminded that it's still here, or, if anyone remembers the line, that "it's comin' around on the gittar again".

Oh, how I miss hypomania!!!

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off