Rhapsody wrote:
I'm sorry, I still don't understand why. Is it for safety reasons?
I think it is more so the perception of mentally ill folk being stigmatized from the older generation(s).
For example, my great aunt who had bipolar type I (now deceased), had people describe her as having "bad nerves" as the average person didn't really have an understanding of mental illness that people today do, so they wouldn't have really understood what bipolar disorder was, back then. Her partner who ended up with her, said she was a lot to deal with and recently said to my Mum, who he is still in contact with, that he would never have gotten together with my great aunt if he'd had known how 'bad' or how mentally ill my great aunt was.
I guess a lot of people without significant mental health difficulties find those with diagnosed mental health disorders to be difficult, or 'too much trouble', hence why some people used to avoid mentally ill folk in terms of dating (and people still do discriminate that way, even today, despite an increased awareness of mental health and its different forms).
Rhapsody wrote:
Mental illness isn't a choice.
You are correct, mental illness isn't a choice. That doesn't stop people from discriminating against mentally ill people though, or excluding them from being potential dates.
Rhapsody wrote:
Also, do we (autistic people) count as people that should be avoided?
I think that there are definitely a lot of NTs who would avoid dating autistic people.
Last edited by blitzkrieg on 29 Oct 2024, 12:51 am, edited 1 time in total.