Thursday 15 January 2015

Mental illnesses are not adjectives.

I'll start off by saying that this post is a rant, something I needed to get off my chest, feel free to just click off the page but I just wanted to write this all down somewhere coherently, rather than cramming it into 140 characters. 



Having been diagnosed with depression, I know first-hand what it's like to suffer from a mental illness and therefore I know exactly how it feels when people belittle and undermine what it's like to go through something like this. It's astounding that in 2015 we are still required to remind various people that mental illnesses are real illnesses, and are just as valid as having any other medical condition.

One aspect of the ignorance surrounding mental illnesses which I'm specifically going to talk about today is the way people, both on the internet and in 'real life' (by which I just mean offline...) use mental illnesses as adjectives, to describe how they're feeling on a particular day, or the manner in which they do something.

So often I see teenagers tweeting things like "Omg I'm so bipolar, I woke up in a foul mood but I'm well happy now!" / "This essay is making me depressed" / "Omg my mum makes me wanna kill my self..." / "It's only 10am and I want my lunch, I'd be a terrible anorexic!" / "Omg I'm soooo OCD about my desk being neat" and so on, and so forth, you get the gist of what I'm trying to depict - I hope.

Not only is it downright offensive to say this sort of thing, it also shows that you are, as a human being, grossly uneducated. It shows that you don't care enough about the people around you to even try and understand how it feels to genuinely want to kill yourself, or to genuinely suffer from an eating disorder. Empathy is clearly something which our generation lacks, because people brush off these sorts of illnesses so casually that is it any wonder they aren't taken seriously?!

Every time I see or hear somebody say something like this, it riles me so much - I don't often argue with them, purely because I don't want to 'go on' about my depression, and there are many people I simply don't want to tell (yet, or ever). I wish I had the courage to put people in their place whenever they say something ridiculous like that, but as confrontational as I can be when it comes to protecting  my friends & family, I often let it go when it comes to things that offend me personally.

I hope everything I've said makes sense, and if it makes one person think twice before making a throwaway comment that makes somebody feel 2 inches tall, than I'll be happy. Peace out, homies.

Hit me up on Twitter & Instagram (both are @katygilroyblog) and let me know your thoughts either on those or in the comments below!


Want to read about me being 100 days clean of self harm? 'course you do

14 comments:

  1. Totally agree with you on this. I often see people on my news feed using these adjectives to seek attention and I'm finding that lately people are using these illnesses as labels and are bragging about them. They just don't get how it affects people who suffer with these illnesses :/ :(

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    1. Yeah people romanticise them and use it for attention which is so awful to see because why would anyone WANT to feel that way, it's so stupid.

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  2. Great post Katy! Well done for having the courage to step up and say that! Can really relate to it! I suffer from anxiety and mild depression and I never really talk about it to people as most don't consider it as an 'illness', but rather you just being a bit dramatic! Really respect you for writing this :)

    Tanith xx
    www.thingstanithdid.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. Thank you lovely! Just needed to get it off my chest ha! Hope you're doing well xx

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  3. I agree with you to an extent, the extent being that I don't think it's a lack of empathy. It is pure and simple ignorance and in some cases willful ignorance as they don't want to change. I admit that I used to use some words to describe things (ie saying I felt depressed from something that is now inconsequential) but that was because I didn't realise that depression was a mental illness and just thought it was a word to express extreme unhappiness with what was happy.

    I think when mental illnesses are taught and spoken about more that this sort of thing will start to die out! That's what I hope anyway! It was a good post though and not as ranty as I was expecting!

    Lauren :)

    http://journeytothecentreofnewexperiences.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. Yeah I guess that's true! People are definitely still very ignorant about it, a dialogue definitely needs to be created so more people can understand!

      Thanks lovely x

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  4. Yeah it's so irritating to see people brush it off in such a light way when the reality is so different; I guess until you or somebody you care about is affected, it can be hard to see how you might upset people like that! xx

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  5. Oh man this angers me so much and I'm even more annoyed today because my best friend who has come back from three weeks travelling has said she's "depressed and feel like jumping off a bridge" just because she's not travelling anymore. Such a ridiculous thing to say first of all, like you have holidays blues. Second of all to say it to me when I suffer from a mental illness. Ahh people, trust me I feel your rage!

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    1. Ugh that's so annoying people are so stupid!!! Hope you're okay x

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  6. completely get this! It's horrible talking about a sensitive topic like this, well done you for speaking out xxx
    hannahjanewilliams.co.uk

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  7. I agree with what you say about people using "anorexic" or "I'd kill myself" but I think people can use "depressed" to describe themselves when they are in a low mood, even if they do not suffer from depression. "Depressed" is an adjective (according to the Oxford English Dictionary: Brought low, oppressed, dejected, downcast, etc.; esp. in low spirits). The same with feeling "anxious" even if someone does not suffer from axiety.
    Hannah x

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  8. Love this post - you've got it spot on! People have no idea what it's like until they've been there, done it and got the tshirt! People don't realise that when they say stuff like that then they may be saying it to someone who it affects more than they realise. After I lost my sister I was diagnosed with depression and was on medication for 3 years until last year. People used to say, "oh I've had a row with my boyfriend" or "oh I've put on weight" and I 'm just like, you have no idea how lucky you are that that's all you've got that's wrong in your life!

    Really admire you for speaking out, I (probably like others) sometimes feel people don't take me seriously and look and me and think "she looks happy" but have no idea - so this post is just brilliant! thank you :)

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  9. I have the up most respect for you. Seeing you in real life, I would have never said you have depression. You're a fighter and I'm so proud of you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    @EmmaIsWriting
    www.emmaloubookblog.wordpress.com

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