While I was getting my hair done this weekend, I overheard something that made me stop for a second. I was sitting in my chair, while the lady dried my hair, and another lady that was waiting for her appointment got up and straightened things on a table to my left. Some rowdy kids had been in the salon, and they had left a mess there on the table. As she was straightening things up, another stylist glanced up from her work and remarked, "Your OCD kicked in, huh." The other lady laughed.
I wasn't offended, but the fact that she just so flippantly threw that out there, just because someone decided to straighten up a cluttered mess, made me stop and think. Why would someone use an actual mental disorder as an adjective in this situation? Why would the stylist's mind automatically turn to OCD when someone was just tidying things? Why? Because stereotypes of mental illness have pervaded our culture. That isn't okay, just like it isn't okay to stereotype someone based on the color of their skin.
I became very aware of how OCD and mental illness in general were stereotyped after my diagnosis. People with OCD are neat freaks. People with OCD check things repeatedly. Quirks equal OCD. The "neat freaks" and the checkers are only two types of OCD. Many different types of OCD exist. Pure O, like I have, is just an example of OCD that people don't hear much about. Also, just because you like your room neat or you like things in multiples of 3 and 5 doesn't mean you have OCD. The difference between a quirk or a preference and OCD is that OCD causes the person distress when they can't say, have something in multiples of 3 and 5, while preferences and quirks don't cause someone distress.
Mental illness in general has quite a few stereotypes. Mentally ill people are dangerous and unpredictable. Mentally ill people are incompetent. Mentally ill people are doomed to be mentally ill forever, and they can never get better or improve.
I did some research on stereotypes about other disorders that I don't have personal experience with as well:
Anxiety: People with anxiety just want attention. People with anxiety are just overdramatic. Anxiety equals panic attacks. For women with anxiety: Oh, she's just menstrual or over-emotional.
*Anyone can have anxiety, and they can't help it. You can't turn it off and on or fake it for attention. Not everyone with anxiety has panic attacks.
Bipolar Disorder: He or she is just moody. People with Bipolar Disorder are dangerous. People with Bipolar Disorder aren't able to be high functioning, productive members of society.
*Bipolar Disorder isn't just moodiness. Many people with Bipolar Disorder are high functioning and productive. Just look at Demi Lovato. Most people with any kind of mental illness are not violent or dangerous at all.
Depression: Happy people can't be depressed. Depression is just sadness. Depression is a result of life circumstances.
*Just because someone seems happy doesn't mean they can't be depressed. You can have good days and bad days. Depression isn't just sadness. It is a whole range of emotions from self-loathing, despair, shame, guilt, and then sometimes it's hard to feel anything at all. Life circumstances don't cause depression.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Only soldiers can have PTSD.
*People that have never served in the military can have PTSD, like abuse or rape victims and survivors of natural disasters. Also, not everyone that goes into a combat zone comes home with PTSD.
Eating Disorders: Eating disorders only happen to skinny, white girls. Eating Disorders aren't real disorders.
*Eating disorders can happen to anyone regardless of gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or popularity. They are real problems that need psychological treatment, and they take time to treat. The sufferer can't just stop it.
These stereotypes have a huge effect on the people they are applied to. Stereotypes affect the way a person sees themselves, and the way the world views the stereotyped person. Mental health stereotypes can determine whether or not a person seeks help. Maybe they have OCD, but they don't fit the neatness or checking stereotype that we see so often portrayed in the media that the think they don't have the disorder. So, because they don't fit the stereotype they may continue to suffer in silence because they think no one else will believe them.
Back to the flippant use of a mental disorder that I heard in the salon over the weekend. I'm sure the stylist and the lady didn't think anything of using the term OCD. Before my diagnosis, I might not have even noticed it. Since I did notice it, I think it points out a different problem in our society. The problem is that people aren't educated about mental health. Sure, they know about disorders and things, but most only know what they see portrayed in the media, which isn't a complete and accurate picture. If more people were educated about what mental disorders actually were, if they knew about the suffering that came with a diagnosis like OCD or Depression, and the feelings of shame and guilt at not being "normal", they might be as quick to flippantly use terms like that about themselves and others.
I'll end with this: Mental illness is so much more than the stereotypes that pervade our society. Mental illnesses are real illnesses, just like asthma and diabetes. Mental illnesses are not jokes or funny or less serious than other forms of illness. Mental illness doesn't mean unpredictability, violence, or an inability to have a great, healthy, and productive life.
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