Look at this, are you really afraid of all of these mental illnesses?

[HereSince1628]

(List is below the rant)

DU provides a great resource for sharing information and for reinforcing fear and stigmatization of various members of 'them' within society. The engine ran at full steam over the weekend and loosely, I'd say even recklessly, sprayed DANGER paint all over the mentally ill. It's a normal psychological defense to create 'distance' between ourselves and threats, it makes life livable. But in doing that, particularly when we do it out of ignorance and prejudice, we can also reinforce social stigma that makes the lives of others even that much more miserable.

Mentally WELL and mentally ill people can and do commit violent acts. Broadly speaking mentally ill DO NOT commit more violent crimes than the general population. SEVERELY mentally ill persons do commit more violent crimes, but less than the rate of crime among alcoholics and drug users. Please don't take my word for that, check out this paper from the New England Journal of Medicine:

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp068229#t=arti ...

Please take a moment to look at this list, a short and not comprehensive list of mental illnesses and disorders. Are you REALLY afraid of all of these? Do you REALLY want to make the lives of everyone afflicted with one of these more difficult?

If we are going to be afraid, let's be educated about what to be fearful of, and then be intentional about dealing with that fear. Otherwise we are just going to be afraid and in that fear we will surely unfairly end up unknowingly feeding discrimination against ourselves, our family members, our friends and our associates, because the prevalence of mental illness in the United states is similar to the unofficial total unemployment rate.


* Acute stress disorder
* Adjustment disorder
* Adolescent antisocial behavior
* Adult antisocial behavior
* Adverse effects of medication-not otherwise specified
* Age-related cognitive decline
* Agoraphobia
* Agoraphobia without history of panic disorder
* Alcohol-related disorder
* Alzheimers
* Amnestic disorder
* Amphetamine (or amphetamine-like)-related disorder
* Anorexia nervosa
* Antisocial personality disorder
* Anxiety disorder
* Anxiolytic-related disorder
* Asperger syndrome
* Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
* Atypical autism
* Autistic disorder
* Autophagia
* Avoidant personality disorder
* Bereavement
* Bibliomania
* Binge eating disorder
* Bipolar disorder
* Body dysmorphic disorder
* Borderline intellectual functioning
* Borderline personality disorder
* Breathing-related sleep disorder
* Brief psychotic disorder
* Bulimia nervosa
* Caffeine-related disorder
* Cannabis-related disorder
* Catatonic disorder
* Catatonic Schizophrenia
* Childhood antisocial behavior
* Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
* Chronic motor or vocal tic disorder
* Circadian rhythm sleep disorder
* Clinical Depression
* Cocaine-related disorder
* Cognitive disorder
* Communication disorder
* Conduct disorder
* Conversion disorder
* Eating disorder not otherwise specified
* Echolalia
* Echopraxia
* Emotional disorder
* Encopresis
* Enuresis (not due to a general medical condition)
* Exhibitionism
* Expressive language disorder
* Factitious disorder
* Fregoli delusion
* Ganser syndrome
* Gender identity disorder
* Generalized anxiety disorder
* General adaptation syndrome
* Hallucinogen-related disorder
* Histrionic personality disorder
* Huntington's disease
* Hypomanic episode
* Impulse control disorder
* Impulse-control disorder not elsewhere classified
* Inhalant-related disorder
* Insomnia due to a general medical condition
* Intermittent explosive disorder
* Joubert syndrome
* Kleptomania
* Kendall Nicole Baughn
* Learning disorders
* Major depressive disorder
* Major depressive episode
* Male erectile disorder
* Malingering
* Manic episode
* Mathematics disorder
* Medication-related disorder
* Megalomania
* Melancholia
* Mental disorder-not otherwise specified due to a general medical condition
* Mental Retardation
* Mixed episode
* Mixed receptive-expressive language disorder
* Mood disorder
* Mood episode
* Motor skills disorder
* Munchausen's syndrome
* Munchausen's syndrome by proxy
* Multi-Personality Disorder
* Narcissistic personality disorder
* Narcolepsy
* Neglect of child
* Neuroleptic-related disorder
* Nicotine-related disorder
* Nightmare disorder
* Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
* Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD)
* Occupational problem
* Oneirophrenia
* Opioid-related disorder
* Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)
* Pain disorder
* Panic attack
* Panic disorder with agoraphobia
* Panic disorder without agoraphobia
* Paranoid personality disorder
* Parasomnia
* Parent-child relational problem
* Partner relational problem
* Pathological gambling
* Perfectionism
* Personality change due to a general medical condition
* Personality disorder
* Pervasive developmental disorder (PDD)
* Phase of life problem
* Phencyclidine (or phencyclidine-like)-related disorder
* Phonological disorder
* Physical abuse
* Pica
* Polysubstance-related disorder
* Post-traumatic embitterment disorder (PTED)
* Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
* Premature ejaculation
* Primary hypersomnia
* Primary insomnia
* Psychological factor affecting medical condition
* Psychotic disorder
* Pyromania
* Reactive Attachment Disorder of infancy or early childhood
* Reading disorder
* Relational disorder
* Relational problem
* Religious or spiritual problem
* Residual schizophrenia
* Rett's disorder
* Rumination syndrome
* Schizoaffective disorder
* Schizoid personality disorder
* Schizophrenia
* Schizophreniform disorder
* Schizotypal personality disorder
* Sedative-, hypnotic-, or anxiolytic-related disorder
* Selective mutism
* Separation anxiety disorder
* Severe mental retardation
* Shared psychotic disorder
* Sibling relational problem
* Sleep disorder
* Sleep terror disorder
* Sleepwalking disorder
* Social phobia (Social anxiety disorder)
* Somatization disorder
* Somatoform disorder
* Specific phobia
* Stereotypic movement disorder
* Stuttering
* Substance-related disorder
* Tardive dyskinesia
* Tic disorder
* Tourette's disorder
* Transient tic disorder
* Trichotillomania

[Jamastiene]

1. A hearty K&R.

Thank you.

[hayu_lol]

2. Almost everyone suffers from one or more items on that list...

while remaining fairly 'sane' over the course of a lifetime.

Thanks.

[stray cat]

3. Mentally Ill individuals can kill you just as dead as those who are not

Most Muslims are not terrorists but those who are can kill you, same for extremists. percentages are great if you never fall on the wrong side of the numbers

[HereSince1628]

5. Fear is the mind-killer . . . and the cognitive motivator for conservative social behavior

I recommend the Bene Gesserit Litany against fear...

"Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."


Or you can just go with the old, 'I could get killed crossing the street, too."

[pinboy3niner]

4. K&R

Virtually all of us are affected by "mental illness," to widely-varying degrees. It seems to be part of the human condition, and one that is being increasingly recognized.

[Ohio Joe]

6. I am afraid of some mental illnesses

teabaggery
repuglicanism
ronpaulitis

They scare me :scared:

[Overseas]

7. K&R ! //nt

[Odin2005]

8. K&R

[hunter]

9. Recommended.

Our society is violent. Focusing on any particular aspect of the perpetrators of this violence is often a way of distancing ourselves from this troublesome reality.

Here on DU racist stereotyping is quickly dealt with, but stereotyping of the mentally often lingers.

"Crazy with a gun" is every bit as repugnant as "--_{insert racist bilge here}-- with a gun."

[ck4829]

10. People who are psychotic are usually less violent than the average person

There's being psychotic and then there's being a psychopath.

The former can live normal and even very successful lives if given the help they need.

It's the latter that needs several times more help if you don't want them to end up dead or in jail.