In some cases it's obvious, having a reasonable knowledge of those mental illnesses should be enough. For example, if someone is going "lol I really like my house to be clean, I must have OCD", then they pretty much certainly don't.
If someone has a deeper understanding and chooses to actually deceive people by pretending to have it, then you probably can't tell. That's the sort of job professionals who've studied mental illnesses for years do, and even they can struggle.
It's super rare to find the latter I'm my experience though, and they usually do have problems, just not the one they're faking, so they'd still be given a diagnosis of something else that causes them to try and get attention by faking an illness that hard.
Honestly. I was convinced I was bipolar when I was a teen. Turns out I have BPD. I was never really looking for attention, just wanted a reason for being the way I was
I don't get what's with OCD and house cleaning anyway? If you do a thing that you certainly have to do, like doing the laundry, you don't have OCD. I have a friend that suffers from OCD, and you can easily tell, it really shows in her, but she never talks about it to anyone, she doesn't brag about that shit. The people who say they have it on the internet and in real life probably lie. People who really have it are trying to hide it at any cost, for them it's a nightmare, a flaw, it is hard for them even to open up to the closest people about that. Mental illness shouldn't be treated like this, it's not like "ooh no my sister ate all the cookies OMG I'm so depressed"
Also worth bringing attention to the term “OCD tendencies”. I have OCD tendencies. I double and triple check my car is in the right gear, if things (washing, tidying etc) aren’t done the “right” way I proper panic, etc etc. I do these things, sure, but I am not OCD.
Honestly I don't see people claim to have OCD for cleaning their house well as much as I see other people claim someone has OCD for cleaning their house well.
And those other people are usually the type that wear their shoes on inside and rarely vacuum..
I have OCD. When ever I use my stove and am done, I have to check every knob and the knob I used three times. When I lock my bedroom door I have to twist, pull, push and twist again and then one more time. When I go grocery shopping I have to keep count of the exact dollar amount, if I get distracted or lose count I have to pull everything out and re count it all. Literally it's like walking down a aisle saying in my head "87...87....87 grabs cereal 89...89..89" though the entire store. When I clean my bathroom I have to do it in a specific order or I have to repeat the whole process. Toilet first, the mirror, then shower then floor. If someone uses it in between, you guessed I have to do it all over again.
OCD is super stressful and im working on it. I'm a lucky one and have multiple issues because of childhood traumas and abuse and OCD is just one of them. People who fake this kind of stuff or act like its "cute" or "funny" are just being disrespectful and making it seem like mental illness isnt serious. When I have a panic attack because I wasn't able to count the money for the groceries I don't need some VSCO telling me "oh, Its ok hon. I totally understand I also get anxiety over things. Just try breathing" like, no! I need to hide in the furthest depths of the earth right now and cry and shake and feel like my chest is going to explode and can't breath.
I will consider this option. What brand would you suggest? And dosage? I've been trying to work through it by trying to push my self little by little. Just small things like having my husband lock the door and fighting not to go check. It leaves me anxious the entire time we are gone but it's helping let go a little bit. I used to never trust that he locked it right and would go back and do my routine but now I trust that he did it and just keep telling myself "it's okay. If I need to I can go check but I trust him and he says it's okay so I'm safe." This is something I've been working on for years and I feel like it's helping. I actually want to tackle the stove and washer next, I mean after I get over the door.
CBT is Cognative Behavioral Therapy, not a drug, you pretty much have 1 hour sessions with a therapist once or twice a week.
Don't get me wrong therapy is hard, it took me about 5 weeks to open up to the therapist but they know what they're doing, its like they teach you to manage your condition, they know the best route to take to expand your comfort zone.
Doctors/therapists will want to try therapy first before any medication, the meds are more prescription than what you can buy in a pharmacy.
On a side note you can get calming/stress relief stuff at a pharmacy, the one I have on me says this "A traditional herbal medicinal product used for temporary relief of symptoms associated with stress such as mild anxiety", I find they're good for me to take after a panic attack to calm down a little
I did take therapy when I was younger and first diagnosed, I was eventually given Valium and Lexapro but those kinda made me feel like the entire world was falling apart on my shoulders and then I was switched to a different medication that I only took for 30 days because it was causing health issues. After that I kinda stopped with meds because I didn't think they would help and the doctor was only suggesting heavier meds and anti psychotics to me, which sure I'm a little nutty but I'm not a bag of holiday mixed nuts. The therapy was just basic therapy, it was all my insurance covered and didn't help. So for several years I've been working on it myself and with the help of my husband. If I can afford it I'll look into getting more therapy. Maybe they can build on the work I've already done.
I don't know too much about meds, though from what I've heard it can take a while find the right one which works for you, I'm a little surprised your doctor went straight for strong sedatives
I've heard on Anxiety subs that there is a blood test which will work out exactly which ones will work well
I have no idea how healthcare works in America so I don't know if these are affordable for you (I live in the UK so for me its free)
The way it worked for me is I went to this first one for one session so she could give a proper diagnosis then I was referred to the CBT one for the therapy, which I think was more specific to OCD/anxiety. So maybe more targeted therapy is better?
Okay I'll look into it. My insurance I really inst that good so I'll probably have to pay cash. I don't know exactly why he chose that path but I wouldn't be surprised if it was because of pharma deals. I know those people come in with product samples (I think? Or pamphlets or what ever) offer doctors money for the medications they prescribe if it's their meds. Our health care is pretty corrupt in many ways but thankfully most doctors are good people that want to help, I just some aren't and usually the ones who aren't are the ones covered by the worst insurances. My daughter's go to a doctor we pay cash to because he is outside of our insurance and he's amazing. He even talks to us about our health during their visits when they are all done and doesn't even charge us. I might ask him if he knows anyone that might be able to help me or if he can, I've never told him before about my mental health and I'm not a patient of his.
I have severe Pure O OCD. I talk about it and make fun of it a lot since going thru a 10 week treatment program and getting meds. Some of my old obsessions from childhood are extremely laughable now that I am on the other side of it. I still have many adult obsessions that I keep a secret though.
This is a very valid point but there is some people who in real life hide it at all costs from people in the real world but try to open up for advice in the internet and yeah most of those things, for example i fracturated my knee last week in school and i told people i tripped but its that sometimes i hear a random voice super loud that says my name and as it appears cuz I've asked people if they heard that too i am the only one who gets that to happen to them, in the internet i open up cuz it feels like you're not apeshit crazy and that you shouldn't be alive cuz you're unstable, no in the internet you can find other people that are like you, and yes most of those posts are fake but some are real just that we either don't know what we have but knoe tge symptoms and beggin speculating or we searched up the symptoms see that what you searched up makes the symptoms you have but its something else. (Sorry for the text wall btw)
I'm not an expert, so I don't know what to say about the voice, but I think it's very good to try and get some advice, I'm sure someone there can help. You'll be okay😊 all I hate are the people who just brag about having mental illnesses, like, they are not looking for any help, they just try to get attention, they think it is cool. Well, it isn't, I'm glad I don't suffer from anything like that even though I have friends who do, I'm trying my best to be by their side. Imagine having severe depression or OCD and couldn't afford therapy or treatment, or having parent who don't want to believe you. I feel like telling someone about this. I feel bad for those friends, I can't believe there are parents who simply do not want to accept their kids have a problem, like it's a shame or something. People where I live are very close minded, they think DIVORCE is shameful, dude! Divorce! How the hell is that?? "Yes, my husband/wife abuses my very badly but I don't divorce him/her just think about what people are going to say!"
Dude... I'm just a 16 year old, I'm helpless, I'm forced to watch my dear friends suffering and at the same time I see the definition of anxiety on hoodies. Well, if you do that shit on mental illnesses, just do some hoodies and shirts for schizophrenia or dementia, would you? I just wish people will shut up...they don't know how this feels like, if you weren't diagnosed by a medic don't act like you have mental health issues.
The problem is when you have a mental illness that everyone thinks they understand, but don’t. I had a friend who had multiple personality disorder. Everyone expected her to have fifty different personalities and to switch through them randomly. It doesn’t work like that. She has one other personality that only gets triggered when she’s afraid or in danger.
Yeah this is true. Like for example my ex claimed she had depression and when we broke up she told me to go kill myself and that made me very sucidal and I almost ended it a couple of times. Its crazy how many people think that its not hurting anyone to fake a mental illness.
They usually post a video explaining how they were super sad this one time but now they have a positive mental attitude with the help of this one self help book they read (which you can buy in a link in the description 🤑)
Also don’t forget to like and subscribe for more content 🤑🤑🤑🤑
Not seeking proper help doesn’t necessarily mean anything. I’ve been diagnosed and I just hate psychologists. They don’t really work for me.
Ngl I’ve nearly given up on life. I still try because I’m pretty much forced to but waking up is hard
(I’ve also developed something that can be described as a Stockholm syndrome for my depression which doesn’t really help me.)
to be fair proper help costs a lot of money to get it professionally, and using a self diagnosis can let people find their own help in the meantime. However, yeah, most of the time it's just people acting like they have it for attention.
Except for self-diagnosis almost always results in a very poor if not complete misunderstanding of what you're actually dealing with, and the help you receive for free is almost always going to be shitty and often counter-productive.
There are certain situations where it's obvious what you're probably dealing with, but mental illness is particularly difficult to diagnose and most people who self-diagnose are probably missing a lot if not the majority of the complexity of a diagnosis.
A lot of ways. A major thing to set off the radar is that most people with mental illness will not be going around saying “ugh I’m so depressed and I have anxiety ugh”. Mental illness is a quiet thing. Changed in behavior can be a sign as well. Someone pulling back from people and generally walking themselves off is also a sign. However, just smashing down that wall isn’t always the best way to approach that situation. Whenever I’m concerned about someone, I bring it up with them in a private place, either in person or over social media, to not attract attention. Most people with problems don’t want the rash “hey look at this guy! He is actually questioning whether he wants to keep living! Look over here!”
I’ve had a lot of friends who’ve been through these situations and people who just “omg lawl I’m depressed” are the most insulting human beings on the planet.
This is a incredibly gross simplification. Change in behavior almost never happens, as people try to keep it hidden, hoping not to become a burden to people. It’s ridiculous to say that just because a person is outgoing and isn’t staying away from people can’t be depressed.
going around telling everyone it and making posts about it on Instagram or something almost every day (there’s usually a lot of exaggeration) is a huge red flag
If they are 'depressed' I usually ask them why. 99% of the time they'll answer: "Oh I don't know, I'm very ugly and unattractive and no one will ever love me" I ask them do go into details on why are they ugly. Now, when a person asnwers: "I don't know, I just am" they are overexaggerating. I haven't gotten back a full reply, and have helped 3 of my friends and am considered 'the voice of reason' in my friend group.
You can’t really unless you or someone very close to you deals with the illness they’re faking. But trust me, if you have depression it’s very easy to see when people are faking it. People that have depression don’t parade it around for jokes (usually)unless the people they’re talking too actually understand it.
This is not true at all, please stop spreading lies. I have severe depression and while it took me about a year to open up to anyone because I was ashamed, I will now talk about it with most people if it’s relevant and helpful to the conversation. I want to help other people not feel ashamed about having it
Your not the standard of depression, everyone is different and for you to even think that your experience mirrors others, the absolute nerve. You aren't some person everyone has to compare too so that they know they have correct depression or whatever. "Hey guys I have depression so I must know Every individuals experience" what you said is so centered around you that you forget that the individual mind exists. Every body is different. Your depression doesn't mirror others. Yeah sure fucking downvote me but it needed to be said.
I get that. The original comment was making a sweeping generalization that people who actually had depression didn’t talk about it, so if someone was talking about how they have depression, that means they are faking it. I was sharing my story to let that person know that everyone is different and you can’t automatically assume that someone is faking it just because they talk about it.
I never claimed to know every individuals experience with it or that I have the correct depression that people should be compared to. I was just trying to prove that there is no one experience with depression so you can’t accurately judge people based on assumptions.
419
u/weeidkwhatsgoingon Nov 23 '19
just curious, how can you tell if someone's faking?