User blog:Madi60517/Adding Onto My Last Post: PSA

Some things I hear way too often:
 * "I'm so depressed that my crush didn't text me"
 * "I'm so OCD about my room being clean"
 * "I hear she's a psycho"
 * "You look anorexic"
 * "I swear, she changes her mind so much, she must be bipolar"
 * "I had a mini panic attack when I thought I lost my keys"

So since I just made that little confession post, I want to say this too: MENTAL DISORDERS ARE NOT ADJECTIVES!

I'm not blaming anybody. Parents and schools don't ever educate people on these things. How are you supposed to know how bad it is unless it's affecting you?

So most of these I do suffer from so I know I'm portraying them accurately, but the last few, I'm not as positive. Correct me if I'm wrong!


 * Depression is not feeling sad. I know what some of you are thinking: "Well, it's not feeling sad over something little, it's feeling sad for a long period of time." That's not necessarily true either. Sure, when you have depression, you do often feel sad, but that is not at all what depression, as a whole, is. Sometimes you don't even feel sad, sometimes you don't feel anything. You feel totally numb. Depression causes self-hatred, lack of motivation and energy, and the loss of interest in things you used to enjoy. The reason you literally can't get out of bed in the morning isn't because you feel sad; it's because you know you're going to be a failure that day, you know the whole day is going to be boring and awful and nothing will come from it, you PHYSICALLY cannot get out of bed because your muscles won't allow it. Depression is much more complex than what most people think.
 * Anxiety is not feeling nervous right before a big test. Technically, that is anxiety, but not generalized anxiety disorder. Generalized anxiety disorder causes you to develop extreme, irrational fears of perfectly safe things. The sufferer usually knows that their fears are silly, but no matter what, they cannot stop being afraid. This constant nervousness can control your life and stop you from doing what you want to do just because you think something bad will happen. It's much more serious than being nervous about a date.
 * OCD is not obsessive-cleaning disorder or anything else; it is obsessive-compulsive disorder, and really the explanation is right in the name. It is an anxiety disorder categorized by, well, obsessions and compulsions. The word "obsessed" is highly overused; the actual word means something you can't stop thinking about to the point where it is negatively affecting your life. People who suffer from OCD are often attacked by thoughts they can't control that give them anxiety, and these are the obsessions. Then, to make the thoughts and anxiety go away, they do things compulsively. Sufferers may check that they did something many times, count while doing things, have to do things a certain number of times, or think everything will be their fault. For example, maybe someone with OCD shakes someone else's hand. They then think about all the germs that are now on their hand, and they can't stop thinking about it, so they wash their hands exactly 3 times (because 2 is not a safe number) and count to 17 each time. Later, they think, "maybe I didn't wash my hands, then I'll get sick, and then I'll get everyone else sick and it'll be all my fault," and do it again. It's honestly a really confusing thing to live with and it should NOT be regarded as just having everything perfect. It goes much deeper.
 * Social anxiety is not the same as being shy or introverted. Social anxiety disorder is a legitimate phobia of social situations, which is awful because of course, as a society, we need to interact to exist. People with social anxiety stay away from social situations out of a phobia of being embarrassed. They may think they are always doing something wrong and tiny little mistakes feel like huge ones. If someone is staring at you, you automatically think they hate you. If you get the wrong answer in class, you automatically think everyone thinks you're an idiot. Heck, everything could go PERFECTLY FINE and you would STILL think the person you interacted with hates you, but you won't even know why. People who are shy prefer to be alone; people with SAD are terrified of interaction.
 * Schizophrenia is not about being insane or seeing things. It is not about psych wards and murderers and horror movies. Schizophrenia-paranoid schizophrenia, anyway-is a mental illness categorized by hallucinations and delusions, with additional symptoms such as disorganized thoughts and speech or social withdrawal. Hallucinations are usually thought of as seeing things, but actually, most schizophrenics don't see things that often (okay, maybe I'm not the one to say that, because I do see things a lot, even 3 recurring things); they hear things. Often, it's voices, many voices, all with distinct personalities. Mostly they insult you and feed you misinformation, but occasionally one or two are nice. Sometimes you just hear other things, like alarms or gun shots or crashing noises. Delusions are an often overlooked portion of schiz, but often just as big of one. Being delusional doesn't just mean you were in a daze or acting weird; it's a firm belief in something that is clearly untrue. For example (and this happens to me a lot), if you're in a room, alone, with no windows, and you feel like you're being watched, with no hope of not feeling like you're being watched, that is a delusion. However, for schizophrenics, it's often much more serious. I usually find it hard to explain it without using myself as an example, but I think I'm especially being watched today, so I don't want to reveal too much to them. I'll do my best. People with schizophrenia often think they have special powers, or something along those lines, and that a bigger force is after them for their powers. At least, that's what it's like for me, and that's what other people have told me. It's actually very serious. I try and force myself, but some people won't bathe for a week because they think there's acid in the water or something like that. They think people are out to get them, that they know about them, that they're being hunted. The voices always confirm your suspicions, telling you what to do and what not to and who to trust and who not to. You end up being controlled or at least feeling controlled by these fictional voices. It's really hard for me to type this and I'm probably doing an awful job, because I know it's real, but nobody else does, so I'm trying my hardest to phrase this in a way that those who don't believe it can understand. Please tell me if it's unclear.
 * Panic attacks are not a short burst of fear, like when you forgot your homework. Panic attacks are either caused by panic disorder or an anxiety disorder such as those above. They are terrifying. Suddenly, everything just collapses around you and you are launched into a fit of fear and everything is rushing through your mind, everything that could or has go(ne) wrong. Not only is it that internal fight, though; it happens outside. You can't usually conceal a panic attack. Someone having one can suffer from a tight chest, hyperventilation, shaking, nausea, crying, and inability to speak. Sometimes people having panic attacks can't move, and sometimes that's all they can do and they run out of the room. They're typically brought on by a stressful situation but sometimes they happen for absolutely no reason at all. They are much, much worse than just being afraid you made a wrong turn on the walk home.
 * Anorexia should NEVER be used as an adjective to describe a skinny person. It is a serious condition caused by an obsession with one's weight, or more specifically, losing weight, so one won't eat to become skinnier. It is one of the most well-known eating disorders, alongside bulimia, a disorder where one is similarly obsessed with their weight, so they eat a lot and then purge. I usually end up not wanting to eat, then eating way more than I'd like to and then thinking I should throw up, but I am HORRIFIED of throwing up, so I would never, ever do that. Basically what I meant by that is I could be wrong about some facts here, so set me straight if I am.
 * Psychopath is not a word to describe someone you don't like. Usually it is diagnosed as anti-social disorder. DISLIKING PEOPLE IS NOT BEING ANTI-SOCIAL. THAT IS CALLED ASOCIAL. An asocial person doesn't like to interact, but can if they so please; an anti-social person literally cannot interact with others like any other person and usually lacks empathy. DO NOT USE IT TO DESCRIBE SOMEONE YOU HATE. Again, I'm not anti-social, so correct me on anything incorrect.
 * Bipolar does not mean changing your mind often. It doesn't even mean mood swings. It is a depressive disorder that does include mood swings as a large part, but there's deeper element in that. Someone with bipolar disorder goes through two different phases: a depressive phase and a manic phase. The depressive phase, well, that's depression. That's the crashing down and the realization. That'll make more sense once I explain the manic phase. The manic phase is a period when the sufferer feels amazingly confident and in-charge, like they can do anything, so they take on way too much and do stupid things. They only realize this once the depressive phase kicks up. The phases can last weeks or many months. I don't suffer from this, either, so please correct my facts.

If there's any other disorders you'd like added to the list, let me know and I'll do my best. The main point isn't to make you sad, it's '''mental disorders are serious and should not be shamed or thrown around as adjectives. You cannot just tell someone suffering from one of these illnesses to just cheer up and relax, they literally cannot do it. Please care for your mentally ill loved ones. They're trying their best. DO NOT USE MENTAL ILLNESSES AS ADJECTIVES.'''

Thanks for reading, I hope I taught someone something. Have a good day, pals :))))