Discrimination against Mental Illnesses

[Eternal Legend]

Mental Illnesses is becoming a world problem with depression becoming the second-leading health problem after heart disease in the year 2010.

Just today during school, I was under the risk of self-harm since I am currently suffering from severe depression as I have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. I had to be taken away to an emergency ward and I am now under anti-depressants to control my depression. What triggered it? A shattered and broken heart...
What I am disgusted about is that there are many people in my school that are avoiding me as they label me as a 'Bipolar Disorder' or 'an extremely sad person' sufferer instead of a normal human being. Most people who see individuals who are suffering from a mental illness often avoid them, or joke about them because they don't fit in the category of being a 'normal' human being.

Most of us see schizophrenic sufferers as 'mad' and 'dangerous' individuals because they are known to commit more crimes than people who don't have a mental illness. But it isn't their fault because they didn't choose to be bron, or develop a devastating mental condition. Knowing that I am now a threat to myself, all my school friends and some teachers are avoiding me since they think I am out of my mind most of the time and that I could hurt them. But people like me need social support and positive reinforcements to make us a little distracted of our depression and to feel just a little lighter after sitting in a world of darkness.

More sympathy to these people is needed as they are going through so much to be normal like everyone else. I'm currently battling with it and it hurts to know that even my best friend is avoiding me and doesn't communicate anymore.

This thread isn't about just me, but to all the other people out there who find this problem everyday and it's just a struggle to keep up with everyone and to socialise normally. People treat you nicely and fair, until you mention that you have a mental illness and it changes their veiw on you. It really hurts both mentally and emotionally which can worsen the mental condition.

I think the love in this world is just stale. Now that I have been diagnosed, I am just hurt and disgusted at the discrimination against individuals suffering from a mental illness. You need to go through it or know someone who you dearly love who is a sufferer to know exactly what it is like to be discriminated and unloved.

[Snapdragon]

I don't get it.
how does everyone at your school even know about your mental issues?
how do you mean you were under "the risk of self harm" ?

and are you diagnosed with having a severe depression and still able to go to school ?

[Project 2501]

Why are you going around telling people you have a mental illness? Of course that's going to make them wary of you. If I were you I wouldn't mention that anymore, regardless of its truth content.

That said, you have to keep one thing in mind; human beings are animals. We form social hierarchies predicated on each member's perceived likelihood of survival and reproduction, and anything which gives the appearance of being a threat to this system is marginalized as much as possible. Those with mental disorders are prominent candidates for being labeled with a "threat" descriptor because of the increased incidence of crimes associated with them, and people will frequently assume, regardless of the evidence, that all mental disorders lead to dangerous behavior just because some do, in the same way that the DEA tries to claim that pot is chemically addictive by citing the effects of completely different drugs (though thankfully, people have started to call them on their bull**** in that regard).

As far as being regarded as something other than a normal human being, those with mental disorders are NOT normal. This has nothing to do with them being human, but again, "not normal" is often conflated with "dangerous" by the majority of society (which, if the proliferation of American Idol hasn't clued you in, is composed of knee-jerk reactionary idiots). There's also a marked difference between simple depression and more invasive conditions such as OCD or schizophrenia; I doubt that anyone has ever been persecuted for feeling blue.

[Vega]

Originally Posted by Eternal Legend

Most of us see schizophrenic sufferers as 'mad' and 'dangerous' individuals because they are known to commit more crimes than people who don't have a mental illness.

Can I ask where you got this from?

As far as I'm aware, that is absolutely not true.

[Aralith]

My advice is to not go around advertising it. Now, obviously since you had some kind of incident, it's a little harder to mask. And teachers usually get to know about such things before you're even in the class, but other than that, yeah. Just keep something like that to yourself if it really makes people view you that differently. At least, keep it to yourself with acquaintances and regular classmates. If you feel you have a friend that you can trust with something like this, there should be no harm, but your disorder probably shouldn't be a topic of normal conversation.