The Hard Reality of Mental Illnesses
As mental health professional I recognize the damage that mental illness stigma has on our society. There is still a lot of work to be done to reduce negative stereotypes of people who struggle with something that they didn't ask for. There needs to be more resources for those who are ill and those sucked in the wake of illness. However, in our attempts to progress the awareness of mental illness I believe we have inadvertently sent some erroneous and dangerous messages that have done us more harm than good. Here are a few hard truths about mental illness that are not popular to talk about. 1) Mental illnesses are not noble diseases . In today's society we are obsessed with the oppressor vs oppressed narrative and in an attempt to subvert the power of those at the top of our hierarchies we have unintentionally (or intentionally) maintained that hierarchy only in reverse, where you gain more social credit and power by being oppressed. I applaud people who are brave enough t