Have you guys noticed some folks WANT to be mentally ill?!
Question: Have you noticed while being on here, or even on the streets, that there are people who seem to WANT to be mentally ill? It's like they're seeking out symptoms of a disease and saying oh I must have it. Or coming up with excuses for their family to be mentally ill so that they don't have to take responsibility for their lack of participation in their lives.
I feel that people who seem to want mental illness to be bestowed on them instead of straightening out their lives should get it, and us folks who've been suffering can then be set free!!!!!!!!!! What do you think?
Answers: Have you noticed while being on here, or even on the streets, that there are people who seem to WANT to be mentally ill? It's like they're seeking out symptoms of a disease and saying oh I must have it. Or coming up with excuses for their family to be mentally ill so that they don't have to take responsibility for their lack of participation in their lives.
I feel that people who seem to want mental illness to be bestowed on them instead of straightening out their lives should get it, and us folks who've been suffering can then be set free!!!!!!!!!! What do you think?
Medical anthropoligists talk about this in terms of "the sick role." Some people see the benefits of being sick, whether consciously or unconsciously--they get extra attention, care, and freedom from responsibility. People sometimes get attached to both physical and psychological illnesses because of these "secondary gains" of the sick role. There is an interesting book about the psychological dimensions of illness, called "The Illness Narratives," by a Harvard professor whose name I now forget. I read this book a long time ago, so I don't remember all of it, but he talks about how people's illnesses fit into a story in their lives, and sometimes they don't get better--even can't get better--until these extra elements of their illness are taken care of. Sometimes people deliberately seek diagnoses they know they don't have because they want excuses or other benefits (malingering), and sometimes people become sick because it's the only way they can express their psychological distress (somatization), and sometimes people become delusional with fear that they have an illness (hypochondriasis). It's a complicated and interesting story.
no, I think a very special friend is one that sticks it out for the friend that is going through emotional turmoil... there are very few friends that will help you through those toughest of times...
yeah, I see them walking with their pants hanging down half way to their knees, strange haircuts, etc.
hmmmm... i have never witnessed that...but i have seen girls act dumb when thier around their peers or boys..but are A+ students...is that what u mean..if not be more specific
some of what u r explaining is hypochondriacs. i am sorta that lol something goes wrong and boom i must have cancer lol. and sometimes people just do it because they want the attention which is really sad when you think about it. just ignore them they are dumb.
To some extent I know what you mean. I have a friend who married a man she KNEW was a monster. We've tried everything to save her but she wanted to stay. After a few years I've realized she wanted him to hurt her, somehow she was into the attention it got her and felt it made her special. She ran away with him when he fled from a warrant and abandoned her job and home. Eventually I couldn't take the frequent calls and I was afraid of her husband so I cut her off. It hurt to do so especially because I was the only person who hadn't walked away.
Yes, it is a fact of life now, especially in the U. S., and will more than likely become a mental disorder, that will create a new branch of psychology, and necessitate much research, and study.
You may want to search the web, for Szasz, and see what he said about mental illness, being a myth. Remember however his statements were made in the 1920's and much has been understood since then.
The psychological term use to describe the behavior is "secondary gain".
Yes there are people who want to be sick . I agree if they want it LET THEM HAVE IT and those who are suffering and want to be well be healed