I'm doing this random self harm workbook thing at the moment and one of the questions relates to if I see myself as being 'ill'. Anyway I was talking about this in counseling tonight and it got me thinking so two questions!
What does ill mean to you?
To me being 'ill' or 'sick' relates to physical illness which is pretty straightforward.
Do you see mental illness as being ill or is it something else?
You see I don't see it as an illness I mean I don't think I'd even say 'x is mentally ill' for example but I don't know what I see it as. I mean I don't class anyone as ill from people with relatively minor problem to someone who is in hospital with say severe psychosis. I don't know what word I'd use and that is why I thought I'd see what other RYL'ers thought!
I just want to clarify that my thinking is related to the words not whether mental illness is a lesser problem then a physical illness they are equal I'm just curious about wording!!
Edit - Someone linked me to this thread and I guess I'd say I was a patient which makes no sense!
Last edited by random.swirls : 06-07-2010 at 10:00 PM.
When we lose twenty pounds... we may be losing the twenty best pounds we have! We may be losing the pounds that contain our genius, our humanity, our love and honesty. ~Woody Allen
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To me, "ill" and "well", particularly within mental health, are two very split-apart things.
I've been in hospital before, and had a nurse say "Well, you're here because you're ill right now. " Then she turned to someone else and said the same to them. I found it really confusing; it was almost like wondering "If we're ill on the ward, does it mean we're well when we're out?" How does that work?
I think it's more that parts of a person can be unwell, and parts of them are well, both at the same time. I can be suffering from a great deal of psychosis, but still be able to make myself a meal. Does that make me ill? I can be with a low-level of psychosis but not feel able to prepare a meal - does that make me well? I don't know if being "well" or "ill" is that black-and-white.
I also struggle to know what my doctor-y people mean when they say I'm unwell. It's hard to distinguish from being well. They usually convince me to come into hospital by saying that I'm unwell because I'm "exhausted and run-down", which is a language I understand and is how I see it. I think they see the meaning of unwell as slightly different though.
I'd say I'm ill, I've been on medications, therapies, hospital appointments, doctors, consultants, hospital admissions, having to cope with the illness everyday.
How is mental illness not an illness ?
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What does ill mean to you?
I suppose 'ill' to me means poor health as in your arent medically healthy (got a flu, cold headache, broken leg etc) i guess thats my opinion :)
Do you see mental illness as being ill or is it something else?
I see mental illness as been ill just in a different way , being mental ill obvs you cant see it when if you have a broken leg you can. Though i have had a few friends tell me am ill before when i started having distorted thoughts. I feel being 'ill' has two different terms one for mental and one for physical. Physical being something you can relate to , if someone is in hospital because of a broken arm people can see that there ill as there arm is broken. Yet with mental illness people cant see it and though people who have been through the same will say ' i understand' its not really the same as a physical illness as with a physical illness people can see it and understand it as its right there infront of them yet mental illness people cant see it but they might be able to tell their mental ill if their actions which are out of character.
I really hope i have not lsot anyone while they read that :)
I don't know. I don't see myself as 'ill' at all but I think I do see mental illness in general as being ill and would sort of classify how ill someone was / whether they were ill based on the degree it affected their ability to function and / or quality of life, similar to much physical illness.
But then, even referring to 'mental illness' makes me uncomfortable for some reason! I always say 'mental health issues' or similar. So I don't know!
To me, being ill means you can't do stuff. So when I am ill with a cold I can't get out of bed or go for several hours without being snotty, etc. I suppose (and I'm really glad you asked this cause I've been struggling with this concept myself a LOT lately!) is that I don't see myself as ill because I never really think this is affecting me or stopping me, I think it's all down to myself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparky
I don't know. I don't see myself as 'ill' at all but I think I do see mental illness in general as being ill and would sort of classify how ill someone was / whether they were ill based on the degree it affected their ability to function and / or quality of life, similar to much physical illness.
So, this, but even then when it comes to myself if I am in hospital and can't work, I remember I worried about not being able to make it to work and then I had to think "oh, yeah, i'm sick" and not just sick but in hospital, yknow? But it feels different to me. I suppose because I can validate a cold through my coughing or runny nose, but the only person who knows the truth of how I feel is me... and I am bad at knowing how I feel.
I'm glad you asked because I've been thinking about it a lot as well... because for me, this is me, there was no start point and I don't think there'll be an end point. Sometimes I cope better with life than others.
For me it's more like being blind - it doesn't mean I'm 'ill', but it does mean I'm going to have to find ways of adapting to situations that a lot of other people will just deal with without having to think about it. But then meds have never worked for me, so the biochemical 'illness' route doesn't fit with my experience.
In many ways I'd like it to be an 'illness', then I could try & find a 'cure', instead of just being a fundementally flawed person (though I also think that none of us are perfect, and that is OK for everyone else but somehow unacceptable in me...)
I think most of us have grown up with ill, always relating to the physical kind of things, whereas a lot of us have not experinced mental illness until we are much older.
I tend to use ill when I am medically sick, but the term, not coping seems to come to mind when I relate it to mental type of stuff.
However, I think a lot of it is habbits of a life time. I find those who have been involved in mental health longer, find the term ill easier to use.
For me it's more like being blind - it doesn't mean I'm 'ill', but it does mean I'm going to have to find ways of adapting to situations that a lot of other people will just deal with without having to think about it. But then meds have never worked for me, so the biochemical 'illness' route doesn't fit with my experience.
That makes sense to me :)
I agree Kim re. growing up and illness being coughs and colds
When we lose twenty pounds... we may be losing the twenty best pounds we have! We may be losing the pounds that contain our genius, our humanity, our love and honesty. ~Woody Allen
Is a chocolate muffin loving glitter ball
I don't really think of myself as "ill", then again half the time I see my "disorders" as adaptations and not disorders... Generally speaking though when it comes to mental illness I have a similar veiw to the blindness annology mentioned earlier (sorry forget who said it)
mental illness = illness?
Not so much. is it something that needs treated, yes usually, but some 'disorders' are what shadow-light said, adaptations and coping mechanisms. It's just a matter of finding better ways to cope
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