Stigma Strikes Again
"Please take me off this mailing list. It is my opinion that 90 percent of 'mental illnesses' are examples of people who refuse to take personal responsibility, and are thus enabled and medicated by doctors who simply are getting rich. Tom Cruise makes some surprisingly good points."
And there they are again: the myth and the stigma. We -- or 90% of us -- are "people who refuse to take personal responsibility." Yes, right. A child showing signs of bipolar disorder at the age of 4 or 5 is being irresponsible. A person who hears voices does so because he's failed in some mysterious way to keep himself from hearing them in the first place. Someone who cycles between severe mania and deep depression does so -- because he wants to? I don't think so!
Just what is this "personal responsibility" the writer mentioned? Did entrepreneur and philanthropist Heinz Prechter, who lost his life to BP, build a financial empire without being a responsible person? How about actor Burgess Meredith, who had a long, outstanding career? Did Andy Behrman, who led a wild and, yes, totally irresponsible life while his bipolar disorder was out of control, become a tireless advocate for the mentally ill only because he decided to "take personal responsibility"? Is it just a coincidence, then, that he became the man he is today after entering treatment for his condition?
Personal responsibility is getting treatment when you need it -- if you can. I did it. You who are reading this probably did it. But poverty, upbringing, inaccessibility and stigma are just some of the reasons many people can't get treatment. Just try being poor, uninsured and mentally ill in Texas.
Personal responsibility is staying on your meds -- if you can. Sometimes "staying on your meds" means trying different drugs in different combinations -- maybe for years -- until you find something that works without damaging side effects. And sometimes the expense of medications makes staying on them impossible. But if you can get them, and don't -- well, Mary Kay Letourneau stopped taking her meds, and she paid the price in more prison time.
Also, I'd like to know who the writer thinks are in the 10% who have real mental illnesses? Do I get to be one of those because my depression started before I was ten years old? (Probably not.) Do you, if your father and an aunt, a grandparent and three cousins also have bipolar disorder, establishing a genetic link? (Probably not.) What about a child who has been abused for years and is diagnosed at 9 with severe depression and PTSD? (Maybe.)
Finally -- ma'am, you can unsubscribe yourself (and why did you subscribe in the first place?). There's an unsubscribe/change email address link at the bottom of every newsletter. We do not handle subscriptions -- that's your personal responsibility. Ours is to inform and help people.
~Marcia
Images adapted from IMSI MasterClips by Marcia Purse
Comments
What a deluded, uneducated, foolish (?)woman to make and believe such rubbish. I have Bipolar 2. I did not ask for this condition nor do I want it.
I live with swings between dark depression with thoughts of suicide to hypomanic episodes consisting of heightened agitation/racing thoughts/great confidence ……. I cannot tell you tomorrow what mood will hit me or if I will be able to manage it effectively.
I am a law abiding citizen, with great social conscience, am on medication, maintain stable employment (in fact I am a counsellor in private practice), as well as completing postgraduate university study, and raising my child alone. Is that responsible enough for you??
As much as I hate taking medication - I do because it “keeps me safe” and lessens the impact of my condition on myself and others. Perhaps you should have an unmedicated bipolar sufferer come stay with your for a month or so for your own enlightenment. Or better yet - go work in the psychiatric field as I did for a decade - then speak your mind about the mentally ill.
ps. pointing to Tom Cruise to support your ‘argument’ !! A clear indication that one may indeed need help themselves —– or doesnt she realise what he believes in ??? The aliens are coming, the aliens are coming! Need I say more)
“Stigma” Strikes Again misinforms and disinforms, ignorance struck again. (And twice more in the article, repeating the term in the title.)
Harold A. Maio
Advisory Board
American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation
Board Member
Partners in Crisis
Former Consulting Editor
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal
Boston University
Language Consultant
UPENN Collaborative on Community Integration
of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities
Home:
8955 Forest St
Ft Myers FL 33907
khmaio@earthlink.net
239-275-5798
I would like that person to spend one day living my teenage daughter’s life - then perhaps they would see what can happen even while “being responsible” and doing all the things (meds/therapies) that all those with MI’s must do to just keep going on a daily basis.
Just one day or one hour…
I am 41 though not for much longer and recently diagnosed ( a year ago) with bipolar. Now I know what I am up against I dont feel like the bad person I thought I was, except when I am depressed. I can now see why my life that seems to go so well for a while suddenly goes bang.
With bipolar untreated I have been able to support myself and up until my last episode my family, the last being so intense it cost me my job and my marriage. I AM MENTALLY ILL and it can be treated but only if I dont bury my head in the sand and pretend that I am not. People like Tom Cruise in my opinion need to be very careful using their celebrity to promote ill informed opinions. I am treated on the National Health Service and although I am sure my Doctors make a good living they are not getting rich from making a diagnosis and medicating me. I would love to stop having the mood swings and am prepared to try anything that will help. If the person who wanted to unsubscibe is bipolar or caring for someone who is I would ask them to think again. After all if you needed a heart transplant would you ask an actor for a second opinion.
no disrespect marica, but can you or anyone actually prove that that kid has bipolar disorder? nope. am i stigmatizing the kid by asking this? nope.
Bob, I assume you’re referring to my example of a child who exhibits symptoms of BP at age 4 or 5 in the first paragraph? Well, it is true that children have been diagnosed at such an early age and helped by treatment, including medications. Some would say that the improvement from treatment is proof. Some would say you have to wait until the child is older to see if the diagnosis is correct. I guess it depends on your criteria for “proof.” I refer you to BP Kids for additional information. And no, of course you’re not stigmatizing the hypothetical child by asking.
What about the possibility that the person that send the request to unsubscribe HAS bipolar disorder and just doesn’t know/admit it? You get depressed, subscribe because you think you need help, get manic again, and unsubscribe because you think you’re doing fine and everybody claiming to be bipolar must be full of it, because hey, YOU didn’t need it…
Bravo! Bravo! I couldn’t have said it better myself.
One additional question I have for her: what kind of responsibility did the person fail to take when he/she died of cancer?
Unfortunately for those of us with MI, when we say “it’s all in our head”, people tend to take it the wrong way
Keep up the great work!
Oh, don’t you just love people like that? Blasted ignoramous! It reminds me of a relative, a Born Again Christian, who said, “God made you ill (with Bi Polar) so that you could learn from it and help other ill people with the same illness.” Oh! Right! He made me ill so I could help others who are ill so they can help others who are made ill so they can help others who are ill ad infinitum … I was going to suggest to her, Wouldn’t it have been easier not to make anyone ill in the first place?” But I thought better of it as, no doubt, I’d have got the “God works in mysterious ways …” answer.
Hmmmm….Now I wonder if my mom having to teach me to smile at the age of 7…or the 5 failed marriages (one was stupid enough to marry me twice)I had, by the age of 36…or the 5 children I had (because a child will always love you and make life right, right?)…the jobs I never seem to keep more than 2 or 3 years, if I’m really lucky…my tendancy to speak before I think…my issues of “avoidance”…my own life-long self loathing, which is only increasing while I write this…the strained non existant relationships with my parents or sister, caused in part by their own thinking that I am just irresponsible….the living with suicide contemplation for over 20 years, which I failed at once (that always makes you feel better)….my inability to “stick” with anything I start…my “scatter-brained” and often times dis-organized way of thinking, the corresponding legal troubles(because what is life without EVERYONE riding your ass?)…having no one and absolutely anything…is all related to the simple fact that I just don’t take responsibility?…now I really do feel good about myself….here I was thinking that I suffered from Bi-Polar 2….god am I dumb.
Bill–
If you haven’t already done so, please go to our forum. Create a user ID (free) if you need one. Post in whatever folder seems appropriate. You need support, and you’ll find it on our forum. People with BP don’t have to feel as terrible as you do, and mistakes of the past don’t have to be repeated in the future. Nor should they make you hate yourself.
Marcia
About Bipolar Disorder
i really like this blog. the good hands on approach. thank you Marcia and Kimberly for being nice helpful ppl. i dont suffer from the disorder but i do know ppl with it and there are times when you really dont know what to do or expect but you try to be there anyway, because thats what friends do. this was very informative. thank you guys so much. Happy Holidays.
Thank you for being there. I googled bipolar definition since I have been diagnosed w/ it. It felt good hearing from other people who have also been diagnosed. I plan on joining the forum so on days such as this when I am feeling very misunderstood I can get a reality check.
HOw depressing. No, that was not facetious. Oh, wait a minute, that was a big word wasn’t it? I forgot that I am not supposed to be educated and articulate in order for my disorders to be taken seriously. Wait a minute..is that an oxymoron? I recently had the occasion to hear a “pillar” of our spiritual community refer to psychic vampires as those individuals who have suffered int he past and who refuse to get their acts together so that they can drink from the spiritual well themselves rather than sucking everyone else dry.” Nice. I did reply that, although there are psychic vampires out there, that the walking wounded should not be included in this category. She also believes that childhood sexual abuse was so common for those of us in middle age that we should just all get the heck over it. Guess I’m not feeling very personally responsible today. Anyone have a drink I can have?
I work with individuals who have mental illness and I am appalled at this individual’s comments. This comment is a testament to the need to educate the public about mental illness and the common misconceptions and attitudes society has toward inidividuals with mental illness. Those who suffer from mental illness are the most inspirational individuals I have ever met and I am proud to work with such wonderful people.