Melancholy and the infinite madness.
Though this psychiatry term is academically fascinating, it is also heartwrenchingly sad.Mental illness is radically different to the kind of "illness" that I've been taught for the last five years. For the perpetrators of this kind of illness are not bacteria or bad food -- things that we can fight off or resist -- but inevitable stressors of daily life, like breakups, getting fired, losing someone. The bad cards that we invariably get dealt, that no one can be immune to, no one can avoid. Great if you can cope, but if you don't...
When does physiological become pathological? When does eccentric become a personality disorder? When does feeling down become depression?
Being someone who likes to ponder a lot, this term appeals to me intellectually. For one, I don't fall asleep reading the textbook. But on the other hand, I have to be mindful of the fact that while this is all well and good for me, mental illness is also probably one of the worst things that can happen to someone.
Any somatic illness has got to be better than mental illness. I would rather be a quadriplegic of sound mind than a fully-abled schizophrenic. When you have a mental illness, nothing in your world is normal. You are your worst enemy. You can't keep the noises out of your head. The stigma and fear of a "crazy person" drives your family and friends away. No one will give you a job. Strangers on the street keep well away from you. You hate yourself even more. The spiral descends. How can anyone not get crazier under such circumstances?
We treat mentally ill people really poorly. We are afraid of them, scared of what they are capable of because their mind is no longer like ours. We treat them as feral animals, like lions or tigers in the zoo. When I was in the high dependency unit that was the best analogy I could come up with. I mean, they are locked up in cells, they are on video surveillance at all times, security is always hovering around, we have to wear panic buttons if we have any interactions with patients.
I know that these measures are not put in to demean the patients, but for our mutual safety. But still I feel so much sadness for them. We as a society just want to sweep them under the carpet and focus on the normals, the ones that still have a life and future ahead of them. These people get on a carousel of abuse on the streets, stays at the psych ward, discharge when the health unit no longer has enough room, into prison when they have to steal for food, more abuse and worsening of their mental health state...
I'm not sure if there is a point in this post. But yeah, there is so much stigma and lack of empathy towards the mentally ill. And I don't think that will ever change. I mean, being afraid of people like that is what I've been taught since I was a child. Despite what I write in this post, I know it is what I will teach my kids when they walk on the street. I love my child and I wouldn't want them to get hurt, so I will simplify it as, bad person, stay away. That is all a child can understand. Black and white. But that dichotomous thinking is what will be carried with them into adulthood. Scary people, stay away.
But the scariest thing is that, seriously, no one is immune from mental illness. I swear, it could be me or you in five years time...
posted by me. @ 4:31 PM
2 Comments:
I have so much to say but I need to summarise. Basically I believe that our higher mental processes are high for a reason - of course, one does not choose to be the victims of such stressors but in the case where one is the victim, one still has the will or consciousness or whatever you want to call it to overcome the effect of the stressor. That is one strong belief I have although I may be wrong.
Secondly, I can understand when you say that society stigmatises those who are mentally ill - yet I am not so negative to think that it is purposively done that way; rather we are still rather lacking in terms of effective psychotherapy or drugs which actually cure you but don't leave horrible side effects. I think society is only "locking up the mentally ill" just like what you say, to provide mutual protection. Not only are we scared of what the mentally ill can do to us, the mentally ill are scared themselves, of what they are capable of. I think a good way of temporarily resolving this issue is to educate the public, get them to understand that these people did not necessarily choose to be the way they are, they don't want to be anymore than you'd want to be mentally ill (just like people who are obese, sometimes it's not necessarily their fault yet we stigmatise them too).
Unfortunately got to go study now - but would love to discuss this with you in person :)
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