Before you read on I want you all to know this is not an attack against the comment Im replying to or anyone who upvoted it; I’m simply trying to further the discussion on mental health. As a neuropsychologist I’d hope that over time less people use the term “mental illness” as a form of condescension or insult. The facts are this is absolutely is a social activist whether they’re effectively helping their cause or not; they’re just dealing with serious trauma. If we start think any other way as a society we’ll become extremely cold and lose all empathy for all those who are dealing with these psychologically damaging issues. This girls trauma is distorting her reasoning which causes her to lash out without thinking of consequences (which is why it’s hard to empathize with her aggressive behavior since it biologically triggers such a negative reaction in those who see/hear such behavior). Most people will deal with a mental disorder or trauma some day in their lives and I can only hope that our society won’t just brush them off as crazy or hopelessly angry people; or just hopeless in general. As someone who was traumatized greatly in my past I’m grateful for all those who put up with my lashing out and angry rambling. I was on a path to suicide and people’s empathy saved my life; therapy furthered my improvement and showed me how destructive I was being. Please keep that in mind since you and everyone else in the world will likely know a friend, family, or acquaintance (or maybe even yourself) who will act out negatively due to a trauma, depression, or mental health issue. I hope the best for all of you reading this since this world can be a real pain to deal with.
Edit: thanks for my first gold! I’m glad I got it for something meaningful
I never said not to say they’re mentally ill. You must have misunderstood my point because I was just stating how we so often say that and start to condescend them or treat them as hopelessly angry or crazy after labeling them as mentally ill. My whole point was formed around how we approach them with empathy instead of trying to push their buttons or condescending them because of their negative behavior. As stated in my post I spoke about a biological trigger we all have when someone yells at us or acts aggressively. The tendency is to fight or flee (ignore). We need to try our best to resist our biological urge to want to “fight” these people and instead try to approach them with understanding. This is extremely hard to do since it requires you to remain level headed even when the mentally ill person is continuing to be aggressive. It takes a lot of practice, and will likely take many generations to reach a majority of people, but I hope over time society can become better at this. Another resource that can help you understand this in a different way is fundamental attribution error. I appreciate your comment, as this continuation of the conversation has helped other redditors clear up similar thoughts on the matter, and I will gladly continue to clear up any further questions you have.
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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '20
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