Why do people say mentally ill people are strong?

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This is a sensitive topic, so leave. It is not for the feign-hearted







I do not understand why people say people with mental illnesses are strong. I can most certainly say I am functionally the weakest. I am frustrated at my brothers for not caring about me, nor do my parents care, only to send me to therapy and let them do the job of caring instead
Mentally ill people are the weakest, NOT the strongest. Otherwise, we would not need help,

By the way, if you feel bad after reading this despite me saying this topic is NOT for the feign-hearted then it's your fault for not heeding my warning

I washed a knife in the kitchen and my brother told me "Please don't stab me". Why would I stab them for goodness' sake? I was just washing the knife from wax! I told them I'm not going to and they patronizingly said "That's called 'sarcasm'"

Please help me, I can not hold this frustration and stress any longer. I tried appointing an earlier meeting with my therapist but I am unsure if it will work. Anyone to talk to will be great. My family does not even bother providing me with company

I truly apologize. It was the same for me years ago when I was diagnozed schizophrenic, but it was not verbal remarks. I could read it in the eyes of my mother when I was washing the dishes, especially knifes... 12 years after, I never stabbed anyone and my mother is no longer feared by knifes. But when we receive people at home, sometimes this happens. It happened lately and I seldom can read in someone eyes the thought of me stabbing with the knife I'm cleaning. I must have an ill reputation, or schizophrenics in general must have a bad one. Or just people knows nothing about schizophrenics.

But I understand your situation is different : they do insult you on purpose. It seems to me this is the opposite of saying mentally ill people are strong. I'm sorry I don't fully understand, nor can I help.

I mean, I can get the intentions to uplift people with mental illnesses by removing the stigma accossiated with them, such as "mental illness is not a weakness", "mental illness is a sign of strength", etc. However, that is sugarcoating.

Mental illnesses, in a social sense whether you like it or not, ARE considered a sign of weakness.
To show you that, look in a more literal sense. You have a hall with many people and a few of them are handicapped. Who is stronger? Those who are NOT handicapped. If people sense you have a mental illness, which could be interpreted as an ill mind, then it is immediately a sign that you have less worth and potential.
Don't get me wrong, I also have a mental illnesses. But I'm not going to live a life of being sugar-coated by statements such as "It is not a matter of strength or weaknesses". For some reason there is a habit of having people be mentally ill for the rest of their lives among professionals.

Well ultimately by definition, mental health is about health and not strengths/weaknesses. But just like an ill body which has limitations, so do ill minds have limitations it seems.

Being mentally ill or with a diagnosis will not prevent me from seeing things coldly, objectively and as they are, as despairing as it may be - it's the truth

Just had to vent those thoughts here. I may have some more to vent regarding the topic

I think the main problem here is the way the word "strong" is used.

Strong in what way? One may ask.

There's going to be a combination of traits a person has that determines what their mental illness is and what capacity they have to treat it.

For instance, one could have some type of mental illness but also be very intelligent and perhaps they use their intelligence in a way that an "average" person would have no comprehension of. A common example is an artist that creates great works as these are often people plagued with some type of mental issue. They could also represent someone who beat a drug addiction that led from an underlying mental illness, as this takes a great deal of strength. (Take note that people who disparage the latter types are often mentally deficient in some way themselves... a supremely narcissistic individual, for instance).

There are so many variables one has to consider. Just saying one is "strong" doesn't really describe anything in any significant or meaningful way.

Because there is no greater battle than to battle your own mind day in day out till you die.

People often tell me that only people that battle in wars get PTSD. I tell them, "Well, that is why I have it then because I fight a constant war in my own head with the worst unbeatable enemy, myself."

I am old, and a cynic. And I have observed that much if not most of the time, when people admire my strength in any situation, they are doing it not so much to uplift me, and console me, and encourage me, as they are doing it to provide *themselves* with a solid excuse for not helping me in any way. Because I'm strong, and that means I can manage on my own. But hey, they said something nice, that should count for something. Right? Right?



Wrong.

[Edit in: I've also been told PTSD requires physical injury as a prerequisite. Total bologna. It's the combination of helplessness and the fear of death that causes it, and believe me, savage vicious bullying, savage emotional abuse, will cause you to feel trapped and fear for your survival without a hair of your head being touched. Bologna, I say again.]

Last edited by Esmerelda Weatherwax on 29 Jun 2018, 6:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

They wouldn't last one day in our crazy heads anyway so are we strong? Yes we are!

True that! And we don't need no stinkin' patronizing

Deep inside they know we are clearly homo superior, made for the better life, and they are just in the way

Always wanted to say that. My Magneto speech

That made me feel all dirty and narcissistic, doesn't suit me at all.

No worries. Said in jest, and therefore not at all offensive.

Clearly for some reason we are not able to, due to some communication malfunctioning. I hope this doesn't cause a narcissistic injury to you
Anyway, my comprehension is that if people think someone with a mental illness or a personality disorder is weak, then they are weak. Clearly people with mental illnesses are rejected more, trusted less, so they have a social weakness.

I just don't like it when professionals lie to us by saying "No, this is not about weaknesses", or "No, having a mental illness means you're strong"

I have another great example for my proof

Say you have an intelligent person who has great potential, but now they happen to be in a cage. They are now useless in-action because they do nothing. Same with mental illnesses - you may have potential, but you are disabled to some extent, so do you really have that potential if you are partially disabled?

Sure. Look at Kay Redfield Jamison, or Abraham Lincoln, or Martin Luther. Jamison's bipolar, has gone public with it; Lincoln and Luther were noteworthy depressives. The trick, apparently, is to find a supportive environment, which in contemporary cultures can be quite a challenge unless one is born into privilege. But it's still possible.

Were their depressions occurring since a young age, or because of challenging feats with major blowouts along the way?

Inborn, in all three cases, as far as I can recall - of course, we have Jamison's word for it, she's written books about it, but historians have reconstructed that for Lincoln and Luther.