May I ask a stupid question? How do people find out they are mentally ill? Obviously, I mean the not too severe cases. Let’s take this GAD or tamer panic thing. During your childhood and youth you have reactions that people call “timid”, “nervous”, high strung” or “cowardly”, depending on the situation and on them. I see four possible courses there.
A)One is you don’t give a damn, you just accept it. It makes you less than happy but why would you ever expect to be happy? So you just accept some aspect of your life sucks.
There are two possible sub-courses here. As it is hard to put up with suffering in the long run A1) you can end up with self-medicating with drugs or booze A2) you become a “compensation monster”, constantly climbing rocks and suchlike to show yourself and others you are not timit or not a coward.
B) You hate yourself for it, because you consider yourself screwed up and less worthy than others, but you don’t realize this is something doctors may be able to fix, because you are used to people being very judgemental about this. I.e. instead of seeing someone who needs help, they see a person who is a bad and should feel bad.
C) You realize (or maybe your parents did) that it is fixable by doctors. This is obviously the best solution although A2 is doable too, but how do people get to this?
Just yesterday, I had a little shock, my wife told me that things like me being unable to dance coordinatedly, beat out a simple drum rythm, or draw beyond kindergarten level, or even to write cursive readably, is not simply “ha ha I am clumsy” thing but probably a childhood neurological, neuromotoric (or maybe ADHD) development issue and if my parents paid attention and seeked help it may have been fixable .I am still dealing with this idea that I am not simply clumsy but in a certain sense “ill”.
To me the whole thing is a bit confusing. I associate illnesses with people being in bed and having fever. To understand other conditions as not screwed-upness, inadequacies, things other kids point a finger at and laugh because you are worse than them, but as medical conditions, is quite new for me.
The brain is an organ. Like any other organ, things can go wrong. It’s becoming the consensus that mental illness is caused by imbalances of hormones and similar things. Dopamine and serotonin in particular. It’s an invisible illness, though, and so sometimes it’s hard for people to take it seriously. Parents who don’t think of “clumsy kid” as a potential problem might just assume they’ll grow into their limbs. That’s what people thought clumsiness in childhood was for a while- uneven growth that would eventually normalize.
People normally find out they’re mentally ill when they realize the people around them don’t struggle like they do. When I realized that constant soreness and tiredness and sense of dread was a thing most people didn’t have, I called in to make an appointment and started searching the internet. Also, it’s not a stupid question. Personally, I’m a mix of B and C. I hope you realize that it isn’t your fault, because I haven’t gotten there yet.
May I ask a stupid question? How do people find out they are mentally ill? Obviously, I mean the not too severe cases. Let’s take this GAD or tamer panic thing. During your childhood and youth you have reactions that people call “timid”, “nervous”, high strung” or “cowardly”, depending on the situation and on them. I see four possible courses there.
A)One is you don’t give a damn, you just accept it. It makes you less than happy but why would you ever expect to be happy? So you just accept some aspect of your life sucks.
There are two possible sub-courses here. As it is hard to put up with suffering in the long run A1) you can end up with self-medicating with drugs or booze A2) you become a “compensation monster”, constantly climbing rocks and suchlike to show yourself and others you are not timit or not a coward.
B) You hate yourself for it, because you consider yourself screwed up and less worthy than others, but you don’t realize this is something doctors may be able to fix, because you are used to people being very judgemental about this. I.e. instead of seeing someone who needs help, they see a person who is a bad and should feel bad.
C) You realize (or maybe your parents did) that it is fixable by doctors. This is obviously the best solution although A2 is doable too, but how do people get to this?
Just yesterday, I had a little shock, my wife told me that things like me being unable to dance coordinatedly, beat out a simple drum rythm, or draw beyond kindergarten level, or even to write cursive readably, is not simply “ha ha I am clumsy” thing but probably a childhood neurological, neuromotoric (or maybe ADHD) development issue and if my parents paid attention and seeked help it may have been fixable .I am still dealing with this idea that I am not simply clumsy but in a certain sense “ill”.
To me the whole thing is a bit confusing. I associate illnesses with people being in bed and having fever. To understand other conditions as not screwed-upness, inadequacies, things other kids point a finger at and laugh because you are worse than them, but as medical conditions, is quite new for me.
The brain is an organ. Like any other organ, things can go wrong. It’s becoming the consensus that mental illness is caused by imbalances of hormones and similar things. Dopamine and serotonin in particular. It’s an invisible illness, though, and so sometimes it’s hard for people to take it seriously. Parents who don’t think of “clumsy kid” as a potential problem might just assume they’ll grow into their limbs. That’s what people thought clumsiness in childhood was for a while- uneven growth that would eventually normalize.
People normally find out they’re mentally ill when they realize the people around them don’t struggle like they do. When I realized that constant soreness and tiredness and sense of dread was a thing most people didn’t have, I called in to make an appointment and started searching the internet. Also, it’s not a stupid question. Personally, I’m a mix of B and C. I hope you realize that it isn’t your fault, because I haven’t gotten there yet.