So a few weeks ago, I came across something on Facebook that irked me to no end. It was one of those situation posts where they name a situation and the roles of people in it, and you had to assign a friend a role by typing in whatever instruction they gave you (for example, "Your Wedding: your groom will be the first friend that pops up when you type the letter "R" in your Facebook friend search engine, your maid of honor will be "H", etc, etc.).
In this instant, the situation was "You are in a mental hospital." The roles involved patients running around naked, licking the walls, and other preposterous things. The sad thing about it is that kids would pass this post around, tag their friends, and laugh about like it was nothing but a joke.
Like being mentally ill wasn't a serious problem.
Like receiving treatment for said illness was something to snort derisively at.
Like they had any idea what they were talking about.
Usually when I bring these things up to my peers, some will agree with me, and some will brush it off, saying "Geez, take a joke, will you?"
Right. People losing their identity, suffering from a problem they can't explain, a problem they just can't seem to solve no matter how much they try. Wow, that is a hoot. Hahaha.
I've seen this question brought up so many times, and I want to add it here, because it's probably one of the most insightful things I've read: You wouldn't tell someone suffering from asthma to "Don't make a big deal out of it, man. Just breathe." You wouldn't tell a cancer patient, "Just fix your cell count. Grow the normal amount." So why is it we think that the proper way to help a mentally ill person is would be to say "Be normal, you're acting like a freak" or "Stop moping around and be happy"?
We can't. I suppose it's hardest to relate to or understand mental illness because it's in an individual's head, and try as they might, other people will never know what's going on in another person's brain.
So if you don't know what it is you're actually making fun of, tell me again why you're doing it? To compare it to a more pop culture topic, it's like hating Twilight without having read the books or the movies. You do it because you think it makes you look cool. You do it because other people do it. You do it because if you don't, people will think you're obsessed with sparkly vampires. But have you taken the time to read the books? To actually know about it yourself and form your own opinion? No, you just jumped on the bandwagon and began spouting things of which you really know nothing about.
Nowadays, when people go around using the word "retarded" lightly, other politically correct people snap their head around and tut-tut at them. Why do we stop at that word? Why not tell people who say "Oh, yeah I'm totally OC, I'm so neat" or "Dude, you're changing the plans again? You're so bipolar" that they're just as politically incorrect as the people who use the word retarded?
These illnesses aren't to be taken lightly. They're not an adjective with which you describe your personality, they are real disorders, which a lot of people truly suffer from. I should know: my senior year in high school was marred by a nervous breakdown, two hospital stays, three months of recuperation, and endless hours of therapy. I had to fly home from our Australian Christmas trip because of my obsessive-compulsive disorder, and I spent New Year's in and out of consciousness (thanks to the sedatives the gave me), only briefly getting up to watch the fireworks from my window in Medical City. My freshman year at Ateneo was cut short by yet another breakdown, which prompted by family to send me to the States for further treatment, where I stayed for 2 and a half months.
While I was there I spent some time in a residential facility. Possibly the most difficult chapter of my life: I was all alone; my mother was not allowed to visit or talk to me, and so I spent my days dialing and redialing her number hoping she would pick up. It's still quite difficult to talk about it, so I think I'll stop here. Someday, I'll be able to get the whole tale out, and if it helps people like me shed the stigma of their disorders, then it'll be worth the pain of talking about it.
The other day I saw on Tumblr a campaign by the city of Sacramento called Stop Stigma Sacramento.
It described everyday people with everyday jobs and lives, dealing with their own mental illness. I hope to start something like that here in the Philippines, with the help of psychiatrists and therapists, because there are a lot of you out there who have these problems and just can't find a hand to hold and the help they need.
To finish on a lighter note, I really want to praise Jesse Eisenberg. He too, suffers from OCD, and deals with it and his career. If he can get nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, then there's that much more hope for the rest of us.
**And watch his new film Now You See Me :)) It's kickbutt.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What a brilliant and insightful post, Sam! I hope that someday you will have the courage to post something like this on FB or in a publication for surely it will form and inform minds. You have the gift not just of writing and persuasion but of moral soundness. I am so proud to have met someone like you. :)
ReplyDelete(Bigoted people, like those you mentioned, are to be pitied for they do not know how to properly deal with their neuroses and psychoses. Of all the illnesses in the world, ignorance is the worst one to catch.)
thank you for the very kind words Ms Ng! I must say that part of the reason I write is because of your faith in me. There was a time when I didn't want to write anymore, and then (I remember this day clearly), you approached me and said you wanted to publish my story in The Reeder. I think that definitely revived my love for writing.
ReplyDeleteHunyo 13, 2013 18:00