8 Things people say to the mentally ill........

Pardon the language, but this is how I feel too!

...and why you can all go fuck yourselves.          

1. "Everyone has _____________" (mood swings, trouble focusing, anxiety, depression, paranoia etc...).

-No everyone OCCASIONALLY gets that. Like everyone occasionally catches a cold. If your nose was leaking day in/day out EVERY fucking day of your life and someone called you a bitch for complaining about it because "I get sniffles too" you'd also have an attitude.

2. "Well now that you know you have it why don't you just ________________ when you feel it coming on?"

-This is commonly used for things like mood swings, anger, paranoia etc. and it has one fatal flaw. A chronic illness is just that: CHRONIC. It's never "coming on", IT IS ALWAYS ON. When someone has a meltdown it isn't that they were sane a minute ago. It's that they were fighting it and fighting it and fighting it until they broke. It's like the straw that broke the camel's back.

3. "Did you take your meds?"

-This is often used in response to things like arguments, being forgetful or any emotional outburst. Speaking from experience it's really insulting to be considered a hazard. Respond to what I'm doing or saying and if you're using this line as leverage for your argument then I take full responsibility for bitchslapping you. It wasn't the illness.

4. "Every moment spent unhappy is 60 seconds you'll never get back"

-Don't you think I fucking know that? From a neurological standpoint deciding to feel happy makes as much sense as jumping in ice water and deciding to feel warm.

5. "Medication isn't natural/Why don't you look for a natural solution?"

-Why don't you take a shit in the woods? This is the only type of medical problem where you're commonly told to avoid a medical solution. How would you feel if your daughter was killed by an allergic reaction where the people in attendance refused to administer an epipen because "it isn't natural"? X-rays aren't natural, electro-cardiograms aren't natural, penicillin isn't natural! Hell If you're reading this then you have an internet connection and you've missed the boat on natural.

6. "Can't you see that _________ (usually partying, using drugs/alcohol) is just making it worse?"

-If only one thing took your mind off of chronic discomfort you'd still do it even if it made it worse in the long run. When you have an itch do you NEVER scratch it? For the most part when the mentally ill take drugs and alcohol they aren't doing it for fun, they're doing it for distraction and the only thing that creates that distraction is pain. Notice how much of those drugs/alcohol they need? For the most part what they're really doing is cutting. They're trying to create a physical pain to distract from their emotional pains.

7. "I know a few people with _______ and they can control it"

-There's degrees to it; and they're often concurrent. Just because your friend was able to get over his PTSD by taking celexa and doing DBT doesn't mean I owe it to you to be over mine the same way.

8. "Ok today is really important so you need to be..."

-I can't be any less bipolar just because you're catering a wedding. A better way to word that is "Today is really important so how are you feeling? Is there anyone here who triggers you? Did you sleep well? etc.." I'm not saying that it's your responsibility to deal with my issues but if you're gonna make it your business then don't act like you don't have time for me to be ill today. You wouldn't tell someone with Parkinson's that you're taking wedding pics today and that you really need them to stop shaking.
As an addendum I just wanna say that I'm not saying that being mentally ill means that I'm not responsible for my own actions. My emotional state has lost me A LOT of friends, girlfriends, jobs etc.. and looking back I can't really say that I begrudge the ones that left/fired me. I know I'm gonna get a lot of flack for saying this but I think they did the right thing. Nobody owes me the willingness to accept my problems just as I don't owe it to anyone to accept their personality flaws. If I stop being friends with someone because of their addiction then that's my right but statements like these just reinforce some really archaic beliefs.

And last but not least

One I've always regretted leaving out because I've heard it AT LEAST 10 times but only from mental health professionals is

"You gotta want the medication/therapy to work"

-Why? If I took a vaccine or wore a cast would I have to want them to work? And you've figured me out man I just made this appointment, took time off work, drove down here, paid for parking, waited in the lobby and saw you for the three shots of stale/lukewarm coffee in a tiny styrofoam cup. You fucking got me man! I never wanted this to work in the first place!
Thanks again.