If Physical Problems Were Handled Like Mental Problems

[EeveeElectro]

Arg, I face this stupid ignorance on a daily basis.

'what have you got to be ill about? You've got a house, a job, your healt- oh'

'you had a heart attack? You don't look like you had one, what a liar!'

'get better! Don't be ill, it might never happen! Pretty girl's shouldn't be ill!'

'maybe you should stop throwing up, your vomitting is upsetting others!'

 

[Vegosiux]

Same thing happens in the military. In my case it was "Torn tendon in your leg? Run on it more, toughen it up. Have some ibuprofen." and "Burst disc in your back? Have some ibuprofen... now lift that 30mm cannon up to the belly of that aircraft. Now go drive an offroad vehicle on a broken road for 16 hours. You're fine."

At least they treated me when I got shot. I think that's the only major injury I made a complete recovery from. I was half expecting 'em to prescribe ibuprofen and water for that one too.
So yeah, my response to this thread's title is "They often are."

Thing is...everyday people don't behave like drill sergeants in case of physical illness. In case of a calamity of the mind, though? Oh yes. They'll stigmatize you. The military is a specific environment.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Spoiler: Now, ma'am, when you were young, how often did your parents leave you alone?

"I AM HAVING A FUCKING BABY! GET ME A REAL DOCTOR!"

 

[loc978]

Same thing happens in the military. In my case it was "Torn tendon in your leg? Run on it more, toughen it up. Have some ibuprofen." and "Burst disc in your back? Have some ibuprofen... now lift that 30mm cannon up to the belly of that aircraft. Now go drive an offroad vehicle on a broken road for 16 hours. You're fine."

At least they treated me when I got shot. I think that's the only major injury I made a complete recovery from. I was half expecting 'em to prescribe ibuprofen and water for that one too.
So yeah, my response to this thread's title is "They often are."

Thing is...everyday people don't behave like drill sergeants in case of physical illness. In case of a calamity of the mind, though? Oh yes. They'll stigmatize you. The military is a specific environment.

I don't mean to downplay that, there are certainly places/cultures where mental illness is stigmatized to hell and back (hell, even PTSD is still stigmatized more often than not)... I'm just pointing out (as did the poster I quoted before) that there are cultures that treat physical injury that is perhaps less than immediately visible in much the same way. It's not just the military, either. Sports in places where it's treated seriously or as a possible career option (especially in high school and college) is often treated the same... to say nothing of people who become sick or injured in some third-world countries.

"Everyday people" is a value-laden term... one that changes its meaning just leaving or entering city limits, much less traveling cross country or internationally (so even a suburb is a "specific environment", as you say... and two attached to the same city can differ significantly in matters of prejudice). Coaches, drill sergeants and third-world strongmen have a lot of behaviors in common... if not reasons for such.

 

[DuctTapeJedi]

Based on Something Actually Said to Me:

"If this [broken leg] is just an attempt to get me to buy you something, you can think again!"

 

[Lieju]

"She just isn't the kind of person who would have cancer, I mean, she comes from a good family."

"I don't care if you have a broken leg, I manage to go for a run every day just fine, so you should too."

"I don't think he is deaf, he just ins't trying hard enough to hear."

Sadly, that last one is from real life. Although that was a case of the mother being in denial about her son's hearing.

 

[San Martin]

I think the problem is that almost everybody seems to have "depression" or something similar these days. Its either becoming way more common as society degrades (entirely likely) or people are getting to sensitive. I think this demot focuses on the second thing, which is a common opinion. We should probably look to fixing the cause of all this depression and anxiety rather than individual (minor/medium) cases now days.

Genuine question (i.e. I'm not looking for an argument): in what ways do you believe society is degrading? Do you mean the western world in general?

 

[DuctTapeJedi]

I think the problem is that almost everybody seems to have "depression" or something similar these days. Its either becoming way more common as society degrades (entirely likely) or people are getting to sensitive. I think this demot focuses on the second thing, which is a common opinion.

Or, we're just becoming more aware of it, instead of just labeling people as "crazy," and throwing them in asylums/calling them possessed/etc. as was done in the past.

 

[Wasted]

Hello Escapist! I have been a long time lurker of the forums but felt that I needed to add my input (for what it's worth) to this thread so I signed up. I am a therapist that has been working in the field for many years. I currently have my masters in psychology which qualifies me in my state as a qualified mental health professional (QMHP). I have given counseling from children to adults, individuals to large families. Hopefully next year I can continue my education and get my doctorate in psychology in order to pursue a neuropsychology degree which is ultimately my career goal.

As a therapist, a gamer (as much as I hate that term), and a human being, the amount of ignorance concerning mental health issues really concerns me. It is not just in the gaming community, but as society as a whole. To dismiss someone's pain/issues as a weakness or something that is made-up. This is not a gamer-centric issue but saddens me when I see people on forums/in-game-chats belittling or straight up condemning problems that should not be ignored. Medicine has been around for thousands of years while psychology has been around for roughly 80 years. Even with it's comparatively short life span the research speaks for itself. Mental health services helps people way more often than not. To ignore the strength of mental health services is ignorant.

 

[cojo965]

Hello Escapist! I have been a long time lurker of the forums but felt that I needed to add my input (for what it's worth) to this thread so I signed up. I am a therapist that has been working in the field for many years. I currently have my masters in psychology which qualifies me in my state as a qualified mental health professional (QMHP). I have given counseling from children to adults, individuals to large families. Hopefully next year I can continue my education and get my doctorate in psychology in order to pursue a neuropsychology degree which is ultimately my career goal.

As a therapist, a gamer (as much as I hate that term), and a human being, the amount of ignorance concerning mental health issues really concerns me. It is not just in the gaming community, but as society as a whole. To dismiss someone's pain/issues as a weakness or something that is made-up. This is not a gamer-centric issue but saddens me when I see people on forums/in-game-chats belittling or straight up condemning problems that should not be ignored. Medicine has been around for thousands of years while psychology has been around for roughly 80 years. Even with it's comparatively short life span the research speaks for itself. Mental health services helps people way more often than not. To ignore the strength of mental health services is ignorant.

Well that is one accolade I can put on my belt, "brought a lurker into the fold." Though might I say, while this is a comedy thread, it is interesting to see real world implications and facts regarding it.

 

[Wasted]

Hello Escapist! I have been a long time lurker of the forums but felt that I needed to add my input (for what it's worth) to this thread so I signed up. I am a therapist that has been working in the field for many years. I currently have my masters in psychology which qualifies me in my state as a qualified mental health professional (QMHP). I have given counseling from children to adults, individuals to large families. Hopefully next year I can continue my education and get my doctorate in psychology in order to pursue a neuropsychology degree which is ultimately my career goal.

As a therapist, a gamer (as much as I hate that term), and a human being, the amount of ignorance concerning mental health issues really concerns me. It is not just in the gaming community, but as society as a whole. To dismiss someone's pain/issues as a weakness or something that is made-up. This is not a gamer-centric issue but saddens me when I see people on forums/in-game-chats belittling or straight up condemning problems that should not be ignored. Medicine has been around for thousands of years while psychology has been around for roughly 80 years. Even with it's comparatively short life span the research speaks for itself. Mental health services helps people way more often than not. To ignore the strength of mental health services is ignorant.

Well that is one accolade I can put on my belt, "brought a lurker into the fold." Though might I say, while this is a comedy thread, it is interesting to see real world implications and facts regarding it.

Yeah I understand is a comedy thread, it's just worrying is all. I've seen a lot of ignorant statements thrown around in my life that I feel is my duty to inform people what psychology is or isn't.

As a side note, I have had someone in real life ask me if many psychologists eat people. He was referring to Hannibal Lecter.

WTF!?!?

 

[twistedmic]

If physical problems were handled like mental problems than a lot of people would be misdiagnosed with whatever is the new biggest disease either by a doctor that doesn't have adequate training or by themselves after reading online checklists written by people who are not doctors.

To be clear, I am not saying that everyone with Asperger's, or ADHD, or Tourette's (or any other psychological condition) is faking or misdiagnosed. There are people out there who legitimately have these illnesses, but there are alos people who have been misdiagnosed an do not have them.

 

[DarkSeraphim02]

Considering I actually have mental health problems myself, if I walked into an ER or something with a bullet wound and got told to "get over it" I'd go up one side of him and down the other. That said however...

*Said to a person with severe food poisoning*
"Let's grab a pizza, that always cheers you up."

*Said to a paralyzed person*
"You'll be fine, you're just a little stiff, now walk it off."

*said to an armless person*
"People aren't going to hand you everything in life, you have to reach out and grab it yourself."


Captcha: "swirling vortex of entropy"
Wow captcha, that was dark.

 

[JoJo]

If physical problems were handled like mental problems than a lot of people would be misdiagnosed with whatever is the new biggest disease either by a doctor that doesn't have adequate training or by themselves after reading online checklists written by people who are not doctors.

To be clear, I am not saying that everyone with Asperger's, or ADHD, or Tourette's (or any other psychological condition) is faking or misdiagnosed. There are people out there who legitimately have these illnesses, but there are alos people who have been misdiagnosed an do not have them.

Do you have any source for this? Not trying to jump on your back or anything, it's just I've seen this claim a lot of times before on this forum but rarely any more evidence than 'there seems to be too many [insert condition] around for all of them to be real'. Mental illnesses and developmental disorders are literally defined in the DSM as 'if the patient meets X number of these conditions, a diagnosis of Y syndrome is appropriate' so it's not as subjective as many people seem to think, anyone with a valid diagnosis from a licensed doctor should be treated 100% seriously as it's not for laypersons such as us to judge whether other people have an illness or not and we risk doing real damage if we just assume that someone is faking it or misdiagnosed.

 

[Treeinthewoods]

Well, if it meant insurance covering treatment and medication and employers not being allowed to discriminate against diagnosed people I would support treating mental illness like physical illness.

In th spirit of this thread, "Yes ma'am, I know your sister has been shot and is bleeding to death but she is an adult and we can't hospitalize and treat her if she doesn't act of her own accord. If you want to be able to admit her yourself you'll need a very expensive attorney and it will take several months, we all hope she doesn't die before then. Also, there's no guarantee it will work and she might still be able to refuse treatment and bleed out while you watch."

 

[twistedmic]

Do you have any source for this? Not trying to jump on your back or anything, it's just I've seen this claim a lot of times before on this forum but rarely any more evidence than 'there seems to be too many [insert condition] around for all of them to be real'. Mental illnesses and developmental disorders are literally defined in the DSM as 'if the patient meets X number of these conditions, a diagnosis of Y syndrome is appropriate' so it's not as subjective as many people seem to think, anyone with a valid diagnosis from a licensed doctor should be treated 100% seriously as it's not for laypersons such as us to judge whether other people have an illness or not and we risk doing real damage if we just assume that someone is faking it or misdiagnosed.

One from personal experience; A former co-worker claimed that he had Asperger's Syndrome yet he was expressive, understood sarcasm and non-literal figures of speech (for the most part) and was extremely extroverted and talkative. The exact opposite of what a person with Asperger's would be (according to my mom).
And there are a few examples that my mom, a trained and licensed psychologist, has run into, both in the course of her work and through T.V. shows.

As for a person meeting X-number of criteria to get Y-diagnosis, Someone can have quite a few side-effects/symptoms of Asperger's yet not have key symptoms.
To give a non-psychological example (as I have never studied psychology); Someone can have a few symptoms/side-effects of a broken leg- Pain in the leg, inability to put weight on the injured leg, potential swelling and tenderness, yet not have a broken bone.
Those same symptoms/side-effects can be applied to a sprained knee/ankle or a torn muscle.

 

[JoJo]

One from personal experience; A former co-worker claimed that he had Asperger's Syndrome yet he was expressive, understood sarcasm and non-literal figures of speech (for the most part) and was extremely extroverted and talkative. The exact opposite of what a person with Asperger's would be (according to my mom).
And there are a few examples that my mom, a trained and licensed psychologist, has run into, both in the course of her work and through T.V. shows.

As for a person meeting X-number of criteria to get Y-diagnosis, Someone can have quite a few side-effects/symptoms of Asperger's yet not have key symptoms.
To give a non-psychological example (as I have never studied psychology); Someone can have a few symptoms/side-effects of a broken leg- Pain in the leg, inability to put weight on the injured leg, potential swelling and tenderness, yet not have a broken bone.
Those same symptoms/side-effects can be applied to a sprained knee/ankle or a torn muscle.

Anecdotes aren't really enough to count as evidence for such a sweeping claim as you made though, especially as your mother never met the co-worker and so her expertise while valid wouldn't be foolproof. In this case I can comment further since I actually have Aspergers myself (before you ask, properly diagnosed as a child) and those aren't necessarily indicators of a lack of Aspergers, for example:

[li]Sarcasm and non-literal speech: Higher functioning autistic people can often learn both of these to a degree, I can understand them and use them though I can't always tell whether other people are using them, especially sarcasm.[/li]
[li]Extroverted and talkative: it's a misconception that AS people are always quiet, withdrawn types. I do follow that pattern in real life but equally autistic people can be the exact opposite: if anything the talkative ones struggle even more since they often can't spot when people are getting bored and end up talking the poor recipient's ear off. [/li]

And yes, psychology is basically far behind physical medicine in that disorders are only defined by their symptoms. It is quite likely there are multiple causes for many illnesses and syndromes we class currently as just one, but with our limited understanding that's the best we can do.

 

[cthulhuspawn82]

Having social anxiety and being forced to take a speech class where the teacher says, "Come on, everyone is afraid to get up there and talk, but they all did it anyway so you can too"

 

[Thaluikhain]

One from personal experience; A former co-worker claimed that he had Asperger's Syndrome yet he was expressive, understood sarcasm and non-literal figures of speech (for the most part) and was extremely extroverted and talkative. The exact opposite of what a person with Asperger's would be (according to my mom).

Not true. Autism is a spectrum, you can have very mild Asperger's, and/or learn to deal with it.