Right before Valentine's Day, I had a strange thing happen. I was talking to someone, and the topic turned to mental health. The person was detailing their struggle with what seemed to be Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Depression. I talked about my blog and mentioned that I have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and the person says, without missing a beat, "I have that, too." Then they went back to talking about their GAD-related struggles. I mentioned intrusive thoughts, and the person had no idea what I was talking about. (This person also hadn't been diagnosed with OCD, that I am aware of...and this person was very happy to tell me what they had been diagnosed with. OCD wasn't in the list.) This person was also happy to proclaim proudly that they were "crazy".
I wasn't bothered by this sudden addition to the list of conditions. This person just had no idea about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, or I would have gladly talked to them about it. So, I left wondering if this person actually had OCD. Maybe the person did have some form of OCD, and they just weren't educated about it. Maybe they just think all anxiety disorders are the same. I don't know for sure. I mean, if they didn't have OCD why would they say they did? That didn't make sense to me.
Then, the other night, I was reading some things online about mental health, and I came across something that really didn't sit well with me. I read something like, "OCD is the trendy mental disorder to have right now." This statement was followed by something like, "Having a mental disorder in general is trendy right now." Then something like, "Quirks and awkwardness are trendy right now, so a lot of people are claiming to have mental disorders, especially OCD, when they don't have them." I thought this had to be some kind of mistake.
I did some research, and it turns out that it wasn't a mistake. I saw blog posts and essays and things like that detailing incidences where people were claiming to have OCD because, say, they didn't like melted cheese on their pasta, and, say, because they stopped a waiter in a restaurant and asked him to straighten a crooked picture hanging on the wall. I also saw the usual "neat freak" references and the checking references. Apparently none of the people that did the "so OCD" things experienced any anxiety (according to the writers of the mentioned blog posts, essays, and Tumblr posts), and the people sort of made a joke about it afterwards. The actual OCD sufferers were upset by these things, hence their posts.
When did mental illness become a trend like the clothes we wear? When did someone suffering everyday, with intrusive thoughts and time consuming rituals followed by overwhelming guilt and shame, some even to the point that they take their own lives, become a trend that people wanted to be part of or joke about? Excuse me, but I don't feel very trendy. I feel frustrated and maybe even a little bit angry about it. It feels like everyone that says these things is belittling everyone out there who is struggling with a mental health condition, almost like they're saying, "You're fight doesn't matter to us because everyone knows mental health conditions aren't real problems anyway."
Nobody says, "I'm so diabetic!" when they aren't. Nobody says, "I have AIDS or cancer, too!" when they don't. As a result, people with these illnesses aren't afraid to seek help, or that people won't believe they have them, or that someone will make a joke about them having such illnesses. Nobody thinks these serious illnesses are trendy. No one wants to have these serious illnesses to be cute or cool. Why are mental health conditions viewed so differently?
I'll end with this: Mental health conditions are not trends. Jokingly (or seriously) saying you have a condition because it seems cute or interesting or funny at this time in our society only makes the people that do have them feel the stigma of mental illness that much more. If you wouldn't say it about diabetes or AIDS or cancer, please don't say it about mental health conditions.
No comments:
Post a Comment