The Benefits Of Being Labelled As Mentally Ill

[Data]

Mental illness can be devastating and even mild mental illness can be unpleasant, and is surprisingly common. We all know about the negative aspects of mental illness - amongst other things: feeling really bad, not being able to work, poor relationships, struggling with other responsibilities such as caring, no motivation, sometimes addiction problems, and often poor physical health.

But what about the benefits of being labelled as mentally ill? There are not many, but I have come up with:

• It gives you a comforting "label" for your symptoms. You can say - "its not my fault, its my illness".
• You can feel less guilty about avoiding responsibilities. If you can't do something, then maybe that is due to your illness?
• People care for you if you are ill. You may feel more comfortable asking for that care (than if you were not labelled as ill).
• If you are ill, then that means that you can recover - and if you are able to get the right treatment, then you have hope for the future.

I realise that not all of these "benefits" apply to everyone here - often the treatment on the NHS is pretty crap and nobody seems to care much (I have experienced this myself many times). And they are pushing people with health problems into work - I don't agree with the way that is being done.

[boots]

see, i'd argue most of those.

• It gives you a comforting "label" for your symptoms. You can say - "its not my fault, its my illness". - Labels are great but with psychiatry there's so much woolyness about a diagnosis that they're constantly changing. so if they keep changing them how can you get comfort from the label?
• You can feel less guilty about avoiding responsibilities. If you can't do something, then maybe that is due to your illness? - just because someone has a mental illness it does not give them a right to avoid responsibilities! Just the same as someone without a MI would be able to avoid them. If you agree to something then you should do it or at least try.
• People care for you if you are ill. You may feel more comfortable asking for that care (than if you were not labelled as ill) - people care for you if you break your leg because they can see there's a problem. do they react the same way if you have an MI diagnosis? No i dont think they do.
• If you are ill, then that means that you can recover - and if you are able to get the right treatment, then you have hope for the future. - and what if your diagnosis is bipolar / schizophrenia or the like which you can never "recover" from and all you can do is to manage the symptoms?

[addy2]

I disagree with them too, i struggle so hard to be classed as normal i exhaust myself trying not to use my illness as an excuse, i never use it as an excuse for not doing what i need to, i hate the label it makes me think badly of me who dont even know me, people generally dont listen to or take seriously someone with mental illness and i have no hope of ever getting better just cause i got a label, i have never felt cared for or looked after because of my mental illness, i feel this is something i have to live with forever and just hope for the best.

[Liciane]

Mental illness can be devastating and even mild mental illness can be unpleasant, and is surprisingly common. We all know about the negative aspects of mental illness - amongst other things: feeling really bad, not being able to work, poor relationships, struggling with other responsibilities such as caring, no motivation, sometimes addiction problems, and often poor physical health.

But what about the benefits of being labelled as mentally ill? There are not many, but I have come up with:

• It gives you a comforting "label" for your symptoms. You can say - "its not my fault, its my illness".
• You can feel less guilty about avoiding responsibilities. If you can't do something, then maybe that is due to your illness?
• People care for you if you are ill. You may feel more comfortable asking for that care (than if you were not labelled as ill).
• If you are ill, then that means that you can recover - and if you are able to get the right treatment, then you have hope for the future.

I realise that not all of these "benefits" apply to everyone here - often the treatment on the NHS is pretty crap and nobody seems to care much (I have experienced this myself many times). And they are pushing people with health problems into work - I don't agree with the way that is being done.

Hi Data, I agree with you, and I'm sure that nobody seems to care much.

If you don't smile all the time nobody want to be with you and few friends will listen you either.

[Data]

I thought this post might bring about some disagreement, but I guess I am talking from my own point of view. I'm not "ill" any more, but I am looking back at how I felt when I was "ill". I felt terrible but fortunately I never lost hope - I thought my therapy was going to make me happy. Now I have "recovered", and I feel better, but I am still unhappy - and I have no hope. I think I'll always be like this now.

I have been thinking also of the benefits of binge drinking. The obvious one for me is that I feel good when I am drunk. The less obvious one is that I spend the weekend focussing on getting over the hangover. That distracts me from feeling down and worrying about my life.

[nuffdrama]

its is your responsibilitie no one can care and you might not get better. shall we talk abiot the upside to cancer?

if your a hairy person you might get chemo saving on waxing costs

you get sympathy

you might die you if you dont wanna live

you have waring so you can plan your funerel which wont happen if you get killed in a car accident.

[addy2]

I understand its your opinion data and i am happy for you it must be great to have totally recovered from your illness, its just a pity not many people do but then again maybe it depends on what the illness was to start with, some are easier treated than others people need to understand that therapy and meds dont cure everyone.

[boots]

so, it seems to me that what you're saying is that you didn't like being labelled mentally ill however, it's better to feel that your life is crap because you're ill than to have to accept the reality that it has nothing to do with that and really, YOU have to change your outside situations / living. so you dont want to make the effort to make your life better. that just speaks volumes.

[boots]

and you know, i was scared to come back to this thread for fear of people jumping down my throat for disagreeing with what you'd written earlier.

[Data]

My personal experience has been that for conditions like PDs it isn't as simple as being sick vs cured. I have got gradually better but will always have the personality traits that I used to not be able to deal with. And they will regularly rear up and lead to problems. So, I no longer need a psychiatrist or regular medication or sick notes but I am certainly not "totally recovered", and there are still some things that seem (to me to be) impossible to change.

In fact I started seeing a counsellor again last week. He said he isn't going to try and diagnose me because he says that the problem with diagnosis is that people act out the role. I guess his comments made me think and that is why I made this post.

[nuffdrama]

wen you loose someone to suicide and somedne to cancer come back and tell us the good.

[addy2]

I get what you mean Data and for alot yeah things improve not totally but alot, i disagree with my dx and have been fighting against it for yrs definitely not acting it out, i guess your counsellor has his own motives for saying that to you maybe he thought you acted out the dx and that wasnt what was really wrong with you. Just a thought, we are all different.

[EmilyStrange]

wen you loose someone to suicide and somedne to cancer come back and tell us the good.

Point taken nuffdrama, however your comments combined with your handle on this site make me question your motives for being on this site. Understand that this is a site that consists of many members with personality disorders - many of whom have BPD, and will find your comments very invalidating. Perhaps it's all in the wording...

lol Being that this site is what it is.. you will need to expect to see a lot of "drama" here

Data, good for you for trying to bring about some positives among all the negatives. We can endlessly debate the points - but for some they hold true and others they won't.

[nuffdrama]

for me they dont.

[Data]

Data, good for you for trying to bring about some positives among all the negatives. We can endlessly debate the points - but for some they hold true and others they won't.

Thanks Emily.

As you say "for some they hold true" - its all about your own experience. My experience is that "splitting" or black-and-white thinking is often harmful and there are very few things in life that are 100% bad or 100% good. Having said that, some things are 99% bad........

[Liciane]

Data, I facing many problems in my life since a said to many people that I have bipolar disorder.

Now, I decided to close my personal life and open it, only for who really can hear me!

Anyways, I liked your post! It made sense for me for a long time

Emilly, I agree with you, and I like your answers

[EmilyStrange]

Data, I facing many problems in my life since a said to many people that I have bipolar disorder.

Now, I decided to close my personal life and open it, only for who really can hear me!

Anyways, I liked your post! It made sense for me for a long time

Emilly, I agree with you, and I like your answers

Thank you

[nuffdrama]

upside to cancer? nah

[EmilyStrange]

upside to cancer? nah

Dude chill. No one's suggesting there IS an upside to cancer.. and that's not even what we're discussing. This is a mental health forum.

Are you going to interact in a little more articulate and positive manner... or just continue to jab here and there with irrelevant points? Maybe you have been affected by cancer in some way in your own life... if you are dealing with that and are experiencing difficulties, maybe you should start a thread and ask for support, instead.

[nuffdrama]

fair point

[Deepa]

Hello Data. I think I can understand what you are saying. While this may sound lacking in virtue, I can relate to the "positive aspects" of being labeled mentally ill. I want to add that I understand too well the horrors associated with the negative aspects of being labeled -- including the stigma, lack of solutions on the part of psychiatrists, and loss of hope by family members. After fighting for years to be responsible and do as much as possible to not allow my illness to burden others, I am finally "using" the label to help myself. I ask for help now when I need it, I rest more often, I sometimes avoid responsibilities if I think I might feel like I'm going to pieces during a particular task while I hope for the best, I believe there is hope because I have an illness and so there are symptoms which can be "managed," and I live my life, generally, with the consciousness that I am illl and am overall succeeding. I want to emphasize that I avoid responsibilities that I know are very difficult for me to handle with the intention of making it easier for me to live. Some of my current habits I want to change, but I don't know that I can or should change them all. Sometimes, stigma issues return, but I am finding that the more effort I make to live my life constructively, the less stigma is an issue at a personal level. For me, your post brought to my awareness the "positivity" issue in me. At many points in our recoveries, though, I think labeling is more negative than positive.