ofcourseitsmyhead:

There have been articles making the rounds again that psychologists are suggesting a certain someone has a severe mental illness.

Again. This is happening again. This spread of information and headlines, and clickbait, and general tomfoolery surrounding mental illness is once again making my disappointment in humanity rise.

First, it was the armchair doctors on social media saying ‘He’s crazy, he’s clearly got issues, he must have [insert dx here]’
Then, it was the preliminary rounds of ‘Psychologists are suggesting that he has a mental illness.’
Now, it’s ‘Psychologists are suggesting that he has a severe mental illness.’

How about….and I know this is super unheard of….

WE CUT THAT SHIT OUT?

I don’t care whether or not he has a mental illness. I do care if he gets help, sure. But this….this whole idea that we can explain away the horrible things he’s done or said or blundered up with ‘mental illness’ is absurd. Or, if you’re not using it to explain his horrible behaviour, you’re using it to exemplify his lack of fitness to do his job.

BOTH OF THESE LINES OF THINKING CAUSE HORRIBLE PROBLEMS.

So, let’s start from the beginning. Psychologists, as medical professionals, should really fucking know better than to throw out even the suggestion of a diagnosis to the press, knowing full well the horrible stigma that still surrounds mental illness to this day. On top of that, as medical professionals, it’s kinda rude to be talking about someone, regardless of how high-profile they are, in a medical context outside of the context of their care. You don’t see oncologists blasting that so-and-so probably has cancer all over the press, so why are you broadcasting very real illnesses like they’re some kind of joke?!

Furthermore, mental illness is not an indication of someone’s ability to say or do horrible things. I’ve been in a fight like this before, and it’s really not fun. Not only does using mental illness as a catch-all for horrible behaviour endanger the victims of said person’s horrible behaviour (or at least fail to vindicate and acknowledge the harm said person is doing with the aforementioned behaviour,) it also removes accountability from the person in question, especially one with blame-shifting tendencies. ‘Oh, he doesn’t know what he’s doing, he’s mentally ill.’ This line of reasoning suggests that mentally ill people are unpredictable, volatile, and a danger to others. This is not always the case, and it’s a dangerous precedent to set, much like the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 80s [people being avoided for fear of contagion/people avoiding mentally ill people for fear of harm, people generating horrible stereotypes because of an illness that’s still misunderstood…]

On to the next point. Mental illness does not mean an inability to do one’s job. Ever. Full stop. Next question, please. High profile duties sure do require a lot of stamina, both physically and mentally. But DO NOT TELL ME that mental illness precludes someone from being a capable, functional member of society. I will shred you with my WORDS. Mental illness, much like any other illness, will set limits for each individual with a diagnosis. Some people have lower limits than others, and THAT IS OKAY. But to suggest that the reason someone is unfit because of a hypothetical diagnosis just fuels the hate fire that is mental health stigma, and I will fight to the death to make sure that that slows down or ends.

I’ve experienced workplace discrimination because of my limits that are caused by mental illness and self-care. Do you have any idea how demoralising that is? It makes it WORSE. I was passed up for promotions, told it’s useless to try, and not taken seriously when I had legitimate concerns about how things were being done. Eventually, the amount of nonsense I was dealing with came to a head, and I was forced to resign or risk my health.

People are already not listening when we try and make mental health a serious and valid issue, and this is NOT helping. It’s an insult to the movement that vies and pushes for mental illness to be treated the way it deserves to be treated in society; as a medical condition, a quirk/downfall/dysfunction/pick-a-word of one of the most important organs in the human body. Articles floating around in the news about how readily someone can be slapped with the label of mentally ill sends more people away from help and care, because they are afraid of what will happen if people find out.

Cut.that.shit.out.

Treat mentally ill people as people, ask them what their needs are, remember that they are more than medication and therapy and the doctors on their prescription labels. They are people, who deserve respect from a society that’s lambasting them without even acknowledging the harm.