How often do you notice people with mental health issues?
Posted by Dolores
goin g to olym asked:
I don’t mean people who are outright mad or crazy. I have mental health issue, but I am fairly high functioning as a government employee except I am quiet, withdrawn, and have no friends. I always go to lunch alone at work. I am single male at the age of 36.
I would like to know how often you notice the type of person I am describing, and do you necessarily think such person has mental health issue?
The statistics is that 1 out of 4 Americans are mentally ill.
i am not trying to seek out mentally ill. i am just curious how easily person like me can be noticed.
NOEMI
I don’t mean people who are outright mad or crazy. I have mental health issue, but I am fairly high functioning as a government employee except I am quiet, withdrawn, and have no friends. I always go to lunch alone at work. I am single male at the age of 36.
I would like to know how often you notice the type of person I am describing, and do you necessarily think such person has mental health issue?
The statistics is that 1 out of 4 Americans are mentally ill.
i am not trying to seek out mentally ill. i am just curious how easily person like me can be noticed.
NOEMI
November 5th, 2008 at 1:39 am
i’m not mentally ill. i am not sick. i have 2 disorders. adhd and bipolar disorder. i **** when people say ‘mentally ill’ no one has a sickness.
it doesn’t like stick out like pimples or a broken hand does.
ive been on medicine for my BP for a year now, been on stimulants for a long time…and i’m very stable now…i’m only 18, and like when i meet new people, i tell em straight out i’m bipolar and have ADHD so they know if i act a little funky i’m not crazy i just have some issues…and they always say wow i couldn’t of guessed it.
what you’re describing is well….you have anxiety and possible depression issues. so you should definitely go to a psychiatrist about this and see what he/she can do for you.
but other than that….unless someone isn’t on meds, no one even knows there’s somethin up if they don’t say anything about their disorder.
November 5th, 2008 at 4:01 am
I notice them a lot, but I worked for state mental health agencies since 1987.
I also have been treated for depression since 1983 and have family history of depression and bipolar. Maybe it’s not really true, but I feel like I can tell if somebody has mental health issues (especially depression) just by looking at them.
It’s probably a combination of my work and personal experience.
November 5th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Are you seeking out people who have mental illnesses? I hope not. Don’t forget they are like you and I, but then again I have a mental illness - would I be noticed? I hope not.
I hope I carry myself well. I was ill for a very long time, but now on the correct meds, back on my feet and back to work. It’s the mental illness stigma that gets in the way of all of this. For me at work, I must keep a tight-lip on my illness, for I can’t imagine the consequences. Anytime I would raise my voice - they would think I was having that horrid term “nervous breakdown”.
November 7th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I am only now really picking up on people this way, now that my husbands been diagnosed with B.P. but just because you are quiet and a loner does not make people think somethings wrong with you.
November 8th, 2008 at 2:39 am
I myself suffer from fairly severe depression and I understand what you’re talking about. I am at times what you describe “quiet” and “withdrawn”.
I would figure that pretty much everyone has some kind of mental health issue sometime during their life. People mask their illnesses differently. A person like myself is pretty obvious. Some aren’t.