Yesterday during sociology, we had a seminar on “stigma on mental illness”. People are afraid of things they don’t understand, and they don’t know how to react, so they sometimes resort to poking fun.
Just a quick point, during the seminar people had trouble believing that depression was a mental illness. I think this is because the definition may have been misconceived. Yes, people sometimes are in a depressed mood, but someone suffering from depression will have a depressive episode lasting longer than... I believe it is two weeks but I may be mistaken. It's somewhere around two weeks anyway. It's not simply "oh I'm sad" ... it's a bit more complicated than that.
Also, the question was asked what the up side of bipolar disorder (manic depression) was called. [or at least a question to that effect] There's the depressive side, and then the manic side. The mania is the side that is classified as the "highs".
I don’t think the stigma is as bad today as it was a few years ago. Though, I may just think that because I know a lot about mental illness. From personal experience, I know some people are more likely to accept it now. This may be because learning about mental illness is easier now with internet and classes in high school, rather than years ago when we’d simply lock up the “crazies” in an asylum.
The reality is that these days, one of those “crazies” could be right next to you and you’d have no idea until they told you.
Personally, I find people suffering from mental illness interesting. Rather than making fun, I enjoy getting to know them, hearing their thoughts, and comparing them to my own.
It makes me wonder if maybe we’re all a little insane.
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