"Oh, I can't stand seeing all these patients. They are so weird and creepy with their wounds and their pain and diseases. I know! Let's lock them up in a special wing, so real people don't have to see them.
Recreation? Needless, just sedate them and put them by a window. Injured people aren't like you and me, just seeing a parking lot is all the stimulation they could ever need!"
When I first found out I had a tumor in my head and before it was confirmed that it wasn't cancer or something like that, someone actually told me that if I prayed and truly believed, it would go away.
That being said, people do treat physical problems like they're mental problems at times, especially when they can't see them, like with many chronic pain syndromes.
My mother has Complex Regional Pain syndrome, formerly known as "Causalgia" or "RDS."
You can google elsewhere to verify that this is real.
People tell my mother to get over it, (She initially developed it from complications involving a broken wrist) or that she's a pain pill addict, even though she'll go weeks without taking even a 5mg lortab. (somehow) People who know that she has CRPS and saw her go through hundreds of physical therapy will take offense to her not shaking their hand or her having loose handwriting. It pains me to see her treated like this; I can't imagine how it makes her feel.
All I can say is that she has the pain tolerance of one of those Spartans from 300.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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