Why I Have An Issue With People Who Diagnose Themselves With Mental Disorders
As most of you know, I battle several mental disorders; bipolar II disorder, borderline personality disorder, and I once battled postpartum depression for almost a year after my daughter was born. There is nothing "cool" about having a mental illness, and I certainly wouldn't wish any of my mental issues on any mentally stable person. Then, why are people so quick to diagnose themselves with a mental illness? What is the appeal? As I just stated, having a mental illness isn't "cool". On the contrary, most of the time it can be comparable to living in a personal hell. I don't understand why mentally stable individuals are so ready and so quick to self-diagnose.
Like, you do not have depression because your boyfriend just broke up with you. Maybe you are sad, and maybe you feel dejected and wronged, but you do not have depression. Stop saying that you are depressed when in reality, you are just sad because of a certain situation.
Also, you do not have OCD just because you are picky and anal about certain things in your home. OCD is a serious mental illness that torments those who are afflicted by it, and it is actually quite offensive to hear OCD being used as a way to describe someone's personality.
You are not bipolar because you frequently get into fights with your significant other. First of all, bipolar disorder isn't characterized by the amount of verbal fights an individual gets into with their loved ones. Bipolar disorder is characterized by unstable mood, bouts of depression and mania, poor self-esteem, etc. Picking fights with your significant other over mundane issues does not make you bipolar, so please stop describing yourself as such.
You are probably not experiencing true anxiety right before you have to stand up in front of the class and give a speech. You probably are experiencing nervousness, which is normal. Anxiety, on the other hand, can be debilitating. It brings cold sweats, a racing heart, a weighted chest, racing thoughts that are negative, etc. Don't say you're having an anxiety or panic attack just because you are nervous. Panic attacks are serious and are incredibly difficult to muddle through. To say you are having a panic attack is hilarious because in reality, you probably wouldn't be able to survive a real one.
It's like people romanticize having a mental illness. Like it's the "cool thing" in the moment. It's like people want to have mental disorders. But why? There are very few benefits to having a mental illness. I feel like most people diagnose themselves as mentally ill because of the attention that comes with it. But what most people don't realize is that there is a huge stigma attached to having a mental illness.
Those of us with real mental disorders are looked down upon, deemed "crazy" and weak, and are shamed for taking medication to manage our mental health. People who self-diagnose don't see this, don't feel this stigma because they don't really have a mental illness.
Shame on those of you who use mental illness terms so loosely. Shame on those of you who claim to have a mental illness when there are real people out there suffering. Suffering. There is no just having a mental illness, there is suffering from a mental illness, which people who self-diagnose do not and will not ever understand.
That's my main issue. Mentally stable people claim to be afflicted by mental disorders not realizing that there are those of us in the world who are suffering from ours. They will never know our suffering, so how dare they use their meesley Google research to deem themselves depressed, bipolar, or OCD. That's my issue.
