The Debating Society
Hobbies & Interests
A place where ModDB members can debate civilly, and learn from each other's views.
Mental Illness
(view original)
Post a comment
Description
Do you think your society underrates the severity and the actual meaning of someone with a mental illness?
Does your society think people with mental illnesses are just crazy or think that people just make themselves feel bad?
Should societies take mental illnesses more seriously than they do now?
I think that society may understand the severity, for it's often treated as a fairly serious subject; whether that's due to actual concern for the individuals, or just because they don't want "crazy people" around them, I'm not sure. I'm also not certain if the response to mental illnesses is correct, and while I really don't know much about the subject, the "mistreated mental ward patient in the evil uncaring sanatorium" strikes me as more fiction than fact. People also seem fairly considerate when someone is actually diagnosed with a mental illness. However, considerate and accepting are two different things. Of those whom I have met with a light mental illness, unless they have a large number of preexisting friends, they usually find themselves in isolation.
I don't think that our society exactly helps those with a mental illness, or really serves anyone very well at all. In general, the society we humans have constructed for ourselves seems to be one emphasizing fear, inferiority, and shame... It is truly sad that in our lives we have found nothing better to do other than try to suppress each other. Whether one is prone to mental illness or not, such a society has bad effects on the mind.
No, society doesnt. Mental illness is rising for 20 years now (German statistic: Lohmann-birkner.de ) and my guess is because of degradation of social standards and values since it is happening in the same time. People often underestimate the causes of those problems, like bullying for example. It starts with growing differences in earning capacity which mostly create an elbow mentality can extend through all areas of society. Sorry to bring it up again, but this is one of the reasons why I say capitalism and free market sucks. I experienced that about 15 years of my first 23 years first hand. And for the rest 5-6 until now Im struggeling with the aftermaths of it. Maybe thats beside the point, but anyway.
Well, I know its people who descriminate other people, because of arrogance or whatever. The foundation of that is always some sort of competition against someone else in jobs, on free market or just in fashion. Ancient behaviors that once helped us to survive in a rough and uncivilized world full of dangers and now are our biggest enemy and almost drove us to total annihilation in the 20th centurary... I think you get my point here.
So I think mental illness is not the core of the problem, rather than a symptom of the broken clockwork we call society. Freedom for individuals to develope freely as they need to without putting the existence at risk is one solution, taking more responsibility for our environment is another one - dont underestimate this point, 'cause light & noise pollution for example are serious threads.
BTW: Mental illness is depression and other psychosomatic diseases to me. Correct me if Im wrong.
Yes. We're not talking about doctors who understand. Many common folk seem to view mentally ill people as though they're monsters and lots of illnesses are still misunderstood. Although not categorized as a mental illness, most people I know view autistic people and their behaviour as something that is their fault. This view often extends to mental illnesses. Fact is, anyone who acts differently from what is considered the norm gets alienated from society.
In the case of depression, people sorely misunderstand it thinking depression is caused by someone simply pitying themselves. Depression can be caused from many things even childhood trauma, same goes with other mental illnesses if one doesn't genetically inherit one.
Of course there is support for the mentally ill now but society as a whole is still primitive in their understanding of what it means to be mentally ill. As I said once before; Society hasn't progressed much and some people ignorantly believe that it's a person's own fault if they're suffering from a mental health problem.
True and well said.
you do know that autism is the inability to pick up on social ques and body language- are you sure you didn't just reference down syndrome?
I think he was refering to all kinds of mental illnesses. Not only down syndrome and autism.
Depends Insanity. There are different spectrums and different conditions.
Perhaps you already know much about it but if you'd like to know more then have a read of this:
Autism.org.uk
It does mainly involve socializing but the way they act or view things can be different and this leads to some people (unaware of atheism or Asperger's) to categorize such people as either weird or (in some cases) crazy.
That's absolutely true, and you have a really lame spell-check.
No offense, but I think the word "FAIL" fits rather well in this situation.
Jesus Christ CrazyOldTeenager...
My God. I just noticed that. That's a massive fail on my part.
I meant autism and Asperger's Syndrome. Sometimes when I spell autism I occasionally write atheism just because they share many of the same letters in common. Remove "u" from autism and add "t" and "h" and you have atheism. Also the fact that I had previously spelt atheism (before writing that) also led me to mix the two. In other words, sometimes I see the words as similar looking when skimming through paragraphs and when writing.
I've bashed atheists many times on Moddb. So when I say that wasn't intentional I really mean it.
Fail? Nah. Epic fail. The Jesus Facepalm is for situations like these and I fully deserve such a facepalm.
Well, the United States in particular is very interesting to look at.
Here's my theory:
Our individualistic mindset that we've cultivated over the past 200 years has an inferred ideology that a simple thought can overcome anything. I'm not saying individualism is a problem, but I am saying people here are unrealistic. We have collective denial.
I am absolutely sure that far more people in this country have mental illnesses that aren't treated compared to those who don't suffer from these illnesses.
Our self rightious outlook instilled on us by our condition is the root cause of a lot of the western world's problems, and many people here will be quick to say they understand mental illness, but will NEVER look at themselves or at least come out about maybe having one.
We think we can overcome it so simply. A chemical imbalance in the brain or reclusive unconscious thought simply can't be dealt with that way, and these people (possibly even myself at some point or another) need to be both open and accepting of mental illness. We need to talk to medical professionals, meditate, and start being a little more open minded about this.
Now I don't want to rail on my country: we have done a lot right, and a lot of the world actually suffers from the same exact problem, very few have gotten pretty far in regards to mental health support. This is a global problem, but I see this as an opportunity to bring forth my experience gained from the world around me.
I'm a firm believer in political freedoms and choices- decision making- especially the right to make bad decisions, but in order for our society to be constructive with those rights, we need to pursue more genuine, gentile, and realistic mindsets and lifestyles. It's the only path left towards the collective betterment of our species.
Summation: Stigma can be a b*tch
I found this question interesting because I am suffering from major depression which has basically ruined my life and when I spend my entire days with no emotional expression and just have a dead look on my face all day and always keep to myself and never do my homework, everyone thinks I'm just a creepy kid. They think depression is just when someone is sad for a moment and can be cheered up over a short time. I'm really glad a lot of people answered with well thought-out opinions with reasoning.
Do you take antidepressants? They help a lot.
I am, they really are helping a lot, but my loneliness cannot be cured by medicine.
I know what you mean. I was there with the loneliness too. Hobbies only help so much before you realize that we - as social creatures - need friends. While I have friends now, I do realize that making such isn't easy.
Antidepressants didnt work for me. The only thing that did in fact helped me was to live out my obsession.
While certain forms of depression can be eased with positive thinking, it's not simply an emotional problem. As many other people here have made quite clear, mental illness often results from chemical imbalances within the brain due to causes such stress, too little sleep, or just a lack of biological necessities in general. It gets me really ticked off when the media portrays people with mental illnesses as "dumb" or "stupid". In many countries today, people even regard those with epilepsy in a similar fashion as I previously mentioned.