Quote:
Originally posted by Haunted
I make a big deal about mental illness is because I'm something of an activist. I want people to know that it's like any other disease. I want people to understand that it's genetic and strikes at random. I caught from genes. Nothing I could do about it.
(Understand the difference between someone who is psychotic and someone who is a psychopath. Two totally different balls of wax).
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This is exactly what I was trying to say in my previous post. Mental illness has such a bad stigma attached to it...people usually assume that if a person wants to, they can just stop their behavior. That's just not true. With the right help, sometimes they can learn to control their behavior a bit...but it never truly goes away. Also, like Haunted said...alot of these illnesses are inherited, like schizophrenia, psychosis, etc. People inherit them because of genetic and/or a combination of environmental factors...again, not all...but in Haunted's case, genetic factors along with her life experiences seems to be the cause. Like she said, it runs in her family.
Again, I like to think I know something on the matter considering I actually studied it. I'm not just throwing out information that isn't true, I've done the research and know that it's backed up. I'm not trying to side with anyone. I respect both Cheeba and Haunted and their opinions. I may not always agree with what they say, but that's okay. That doesn't change the way I feel about either of them, and I can sympathize with both of their viewpoints (aside from the actual name calling).
If Haunted WAS looking for attention (which I honestly believe she wasn't), perhaps it's a good thing. Why do you think alot of times, people just THREATEN suicide, when they really have no intention of doing it. Attention? Yes, that's part of it. But the other part is the fact that they NEED HELP. They're asking somebody to help them get better. They're asking for support.
I have to imagine that...after a while, of course you would get angry if you loved somebody who consistently put themselves in harm's way. However, there's getting angry and then there's just being mean...huge difference.
I'm actually glad this topic was discussed at length...I wish it hadn't spiraled as out of control as it seems to have...but I think it'd good to talk about these types of issues. If more people took the time to understand the CAUSES of mental illness...perhaps they wouldn't be so quick to judge it.