Say that to yourself. Out loud. Then repeat it.
I don’t mean to sound rude but sometimes this is what we need to do. Now this is my opinion and it may be wrong but I think only 20 percent of mental illnesses are inherent where the person is not in control of the things that happen. Others are caused by our own selves.
Allow me to explain. In my own case, I have quit 3 jobs in the past that could have changed my life. Quitting was my own decision. Not influenced by any external factor. My boss was not a dickhead, my pay was good, my family was supportive yet I ended up quitting. What was to follow would be categorized as mental illness but the issue did NOT start because of a mental illness.
Saying this out loud also gives you some sense of control. So in the future right when I am about to quit, rather than saying I cannot go on because of my mental state I would rather say quitting won’t be good for my mental health.
Having said this I do not support blind pursue of a goal when it is taking a toll on you. You are by all means supposed to step away from toxic relationships and things that affect you in a negative way. But do evaluate in some cases if you are the reason for toxicity.
The worst thing about having a mental illness is that it leads to self sabotage. You are your own worst enemy. So we should focus and work on how we can control the damage we inflict on ourselves.
Do you cause your own mental illness?
Not anymore, if i see, that something goes wrong i slap myself, i punish myself and i learn from it and than i move forward?
Yayyyy??????
I would say this is accurate to an extent. But it isn’t always my negativity that causes my anxiety and depression. It has to do with a chemical imbalance and how my body reacts. My body reacts negatively in social situations. In some cases it is true that how I think has a factor though. Like if if I can’t skip a social situation, there are ways I can deal with it by changing my thinking and finding distractions.
???
Isn’t that like saying I caused my cancer?
If you’re an avid smoker then it’s exactly like that
?to be mentally strong it feels magical?
?
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Its a CHEMICAL IMBALANCE
My first psychiatrist, in 1975, blamed my illness on me. He said countless times that I did it to myself. He was right. I deliberately committed myself to a job I was unsuited for and hated. In the process, and over time, I had a nervous breakdown. For a long time, the VA called my illness a chemical imbalance in my brain. Today, the VA blames my collapse on a gene in my chromosomes. It was going to happen anyway, bad job or not, my bad intentions or not. This is true too. I was going downhill when I committed to the company. Committing was a response to my decline. If this sounds muddy, it’s because I think the causes of mental illness are little understood. My family took my first doctor’s opinion. They blamed my illness on me.
Hope you’re doing better now and getting the help that you need 🙂
Thanks for this article! It’s nice to find more people with the same advocacy on mental health through starting a conversation. I delivered a speech to college students last Saturday. It’s titled ‘The situation is a lot more nuanced than that: A meditation on mental health through Crazy ex-girlfriend.’ I decided to post a four-part lecture on it on my WordPress page. I just published the third part titled “I’m a good person” here: https://kloydecaday.wordpress.com/2019/09/06/im-a-good-person/.
Here is the second part: https://kloydecaday.wordpress.com/2019/08/27/debunking-mental-health-stigma/
Meanwhile, here’s the first part: https://kloydecaday.wordpress.com/2019/08/24/the-situation-is-a-lot-more-nuanced-than-that/
Thank you for reading my posts and I hope that you give me thoughts on my speech. Follow me too. Be well!