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08-28-2015 11:37 PM - edited 08-29-2015 12:15 AM
I saw this shared on Facebook by a friend who is a
counselor and was talking about how sad it is to see
people laughing at people who suffer with all the
struggles of mental health issues in the gamut from schizophrenia
to depression, etc. We wouldn't mock people or use negative or mocking euphemisms with other medical
illness, right?
It's really no laughing matter imho.
😔
::
::
http://insightfully-yours.com/2013/05/psychology/laugh-mental-illness-public-humiliation/
"Most of us love to laugh. We laugh at the silly little things we do when we have a temporary lapse of judgment. We laugh at our pets when they do something cute.
We also laugh at reports from the news media and the social networking sites regarding the mentally ill (including dementia).
It’s okay to laugh and it’s even healthy for us, but at times it’s not okay. It’s not okay to laugh at the people with mental illness.
Do you laugh at people when you see them dressed ‘funny’ out in public? Do you make fun of their odd behaviors? Maybe you thought that woman with a bald spot on her head was a laughing matter (trichotillomania).
Some things that people think are funny are actually the struggles of individuals with mental illness (mental disorders). That is no laughing matter.
People with mental illnesses are not always cognizant of their actions. Other individuals with mental illnesses are aware but they cannot control their behaviors or thoughts.
The innocuous people with mental illnesses that are not a threat to others can be charged with trivial annoyances. They are publicly humiliated (e.g., walking around without clothes or behaving in a strange way). This is when they are laughed at. People think it’s funny.
Public laughing at mental illness
Unfortunately, it makes it in the public news. Apparently, it’s funny to see a person doing something that’s not socially acceptable.
The news sources will report incidences of people with odd behavior, just for laughs. Even when it is obvious the person is mentally ill. This tactic is to gain viewers for popularity, it draws in the viewers.
They will publicly humiliate this vulnerable person for entertainment purposes.
Therefore, you can say the news sources extorts the vulnerable population arbitrarily to make a profit. It is justified in the guise of entertainment purposes.
Throughout the years, mental illnesses have been misunderstood by the general population. This lack of understanding led to a disdain, which apparently justified the poor treatments given. These treatments included (but were not limited to) institutionalization, being locked in a basement and many times they were even tortured.
While our society has come a long way in the treatments given to the mentally ill, we still have a long way to go.
We still ‘laugh’ at them.
Where do we draw the line? Are we so insensitive to people with mental illness that we enjoy seeing their struggles?
What if that person on the news was your mother, brother or child? Would you think it was funny then?
Always remember, it’s only funny if the other person is laughing with you."
08-29-2015 09:09 AM
This is weird. I can't remember a time when I witnessed "public laughing" at the expense of the mentally ill. Well, maybe from a 15 year old.
Can someone give some examples?
08-29-2015 09:15 AM
08-29-2015 09:19 AM
I'm 55 and I don't recall ever seeing anyone laugh or make fun of someone who was obviously mentally ill. No one does that, maybe they did 40 years ago but not today. People know how volatile situations like that can be, they leave the person alone.....and distance themselves.
08-29-2015 09:22 AM
@Peaches McPhee wrote:This is weird. I can't remember a time when I witnessed "public laughing" at the expense of the mentally ill. Well, maybe from a 15 year old.
Can someone give some examples?
It happens. I hear it a lot among teens and adults alike. It even happens right here on these boards sometimes. I think there has been times in all our lives when we have been guilty of making fun of someone who is "odd or different". It's not anything to be proud of and hopefully, when we do hear it, we won't join in but instead say to ourselves...God help that person. That person could be related to you or someone you love. Great post, OP.
08-29-2015 06:19 PM
@jubilant wrote:
@Peaches McPhee wrote:This is weird. I can't remember a time when I witnessed "public laughing" at the expense of the mentally ill. Well, maybe from a 15 year old.
Can someone give some examples?
It happens. I hear it a lot among teens and adults alike. It even happens right here on these boards sometimes. I think there has been times in all our lives when we have been guilty of making fun of someone who is "odd or different". It's not anything to be proud of and hopefully, when we do hear it, we won't join in but instead say to ourselves...God help that person. That person could be related to you or someone you love. Great post, OP.
Thanks @jubilant. Yes it happens
and there's a long list of euphemisms people
use maybe without thinking about it.
08-29-2015 09:45 PM
What I do see often is a complete lack of understanding about mental illness.
Someone who is mentally ill acts out or according to the voices in his or her head and people judge that person for it as if he or she had control over their thoughts or their behavior.
08-29-2015 09:49 PM
I've never seen anyone being made fun of in public because of mental illness.
There are a lot of people who have mental illness who suffer in silence. I'm sure we cross paths with them every day.
08-29-2015 10:16 PM
Years ago in the course of my work as a nurse, I met a young woman who was schizophrenic after having postpartum depression. She often would not take her meds and would be sent to the hospital by her family in a full blown psychosis. When she returned to work, I had to check her back in and I asked why she did not take her medicine, surely, she must have been uncomfortable with her hallucinations and being sent to one of the really bad hospitals, Bellevue (not that it is bad medically, just not a place you want to find yourself). She said the saddest response I have ever heard and it stays with me to this day. She said " I like my hallucinations; I am always happy with them...the people I see view me as their leader and I am marching down the streets and they are following me, cheering ...they respect me and I have lots of friends; when I am on medication, I am lonely with no friends and people avoid me or make fun of me and I am sad". I really thought about that and how isolated people with mental illness must have been because in those days, conditions were misunderstood and often not treated correctly....at least we have progressed to better awareness and humane treatment.
08-29-2015 10:20 PM
that is a very sad story.
People who suffer from mental illness often isolate themselves though. It's one of the signs. Their world becomes smaller and smaller...
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