Anything to do with mental illnesses/disorders
What mental illnesses do you (or others you know) have?
Just curious what mental illnesses people here have. Also if you have any questions about an illness you see feel free to ask said person, unless said person declines to talk about it.
Personally I have a depression and anxiety as well as some eating problems and a bit of self harm.




Depression, with some anxiety and occasional self harm.
I've actually just come out of a 3-day depression-induced paralysis thing, where I can't do anything, like even feed myself, let alone stuff that requires proper effort, like working or socializing. Does anyone else experience this? I've only recently recognized this as a thing (previously I'd get angry at myself for being 'lazy', which made the feeling worse of course). I'm tackling it with my counselor next week but would love to hear how others might have dealt with this problem, or any tricks people might have for pulling themselves out.
I definitely have, I remember near the end of my school year I had a stretch of about five days where I just couldn't do anything.
I have also noticed these can come in various patterns or forms, sometimes (at least for me) it'll follow a little bell curve, just with the first part spiking a bit faster. I'll also sometimes get lesser intensity ones that last longer.
As for dealing with it I don't know as much, I know it sometimes works for me to think of it as normal depression but with higher intensity, and treat it as such. Also I think it can be really good too have friends who know about it who can come to your aid if you need them, whether to get food or help you out of bed or just lend you some company.
I also know someone else posted something that said to think of your support like a 5 or 6 legged chair. Each leg is a different thing that can help you, that way if a few legs can't be there you can still get better. If that makes sense.
I really like the idea of the 5 or 6 legged chair. Not reaching out to people is definitely a problem for me. I'm very private and also hate imposing myself on others. I recently told two people about this. So my chair now has 2 legs I guess...
It's kind of comforting to know I'm not the only one. What you described is very similar to what happens to me.
Yeah, it definitely can help to know that your not alone with that, I know for myself I have some various comics I go to for that as well. I know a few good ones are depression comix, bethdrawsthings (instagram) and vauge notions (although they rarely upload, if at all). At least those are some that I kinda like.
Don't forget to count yourself amongst your legs! You might not be as strong as usual when you're in a depressive cycle, but whatever your past self did to put in safe guards (frozen meals, planned dates with friends who will check in if you cancel, etc); whatever your future self can do to recuperate once it starts getting better; whatever you are able to do when depressed (not die, create distractions, eat peanut butter on a spoon); those are all relevant supports you should include in your count.
I was actually just going through this with my counselor yesterday. Figure out the things I can do, even when I don't want to/can't do anything. Peanut butter on a spoon is an EXCELLENT suggestion.
I don't know that I've experienced it to the degree that I'd call it "paralysis," but I've definitely had it where depression can make you not want to do anything at all, and feel like you can't do anything at all. It creates a terrible cycle where you can't do anything because you're too depressed, and then you get more depressed from not doing anything, and it just keeps spiraling down. Good job recognizing it and talking to your counselor about it!
Schizophrenia, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, adhd, ptsd. Also have epilepsy, which can affect other stuff because seizures mess me up.
I can answer Schizophrenia questions. It's a lot easier to hide than people think. :V
One thing I would wonder is if the schizophrenia can trigger the epilepsy? I might imagine that it could since you are technically seeing those things but then again if the two systems of brain are separate it might not.
Also to what extent can you interact with hallucinations (I'm pretty sure that's part of schizophrenia). You always see at least on tv (because that's a reliable source of information) people talking with their hallucinations although what happens if you tried to touch one? Or even slap or hit one? I imagine that your hand couldn't just stop as that wouldn't really work with physics.
I've had psychosis after seizures a few times, but it was different. Like...it's hard to explain. They have a different feel. My seizures are partial ones, and I basically zonk out for a while and get strange feelings, thoughts, and fear. But it's very obviously a seizure since I just become unresponsive for a few minutes, and then I'm tired. I remembered one time I tried to explain how I felt and came up with 'my back has gas'.
As far as I know, visual hallucinations are less common than auditory ones. I get both (or I do when not medicated). Auditory ones tend to follow a trend. Starts as just sounding like I'm hearing some people talk about random things, snippets of conversation. Not constant, usually in the evening. Fades in and out. Then in a few days they might comment on me. Ineffectual insults sometimes. One time they called me by a random name, which was strange. Then there was the insult that I was so stupid I couldn't hold onto soap in the shower...this was while I was in bed, mind you. Very random.
Then a few days to a week later, I woke up and they were telling me to throw away my medication, and that if I didn't, they'd make me hurt myself.
So I told my mom and we upped my dose.
Thing is, even though we might hear voices telling us to do horrible things, that doesn't mean we actually do them. If that makes sense. If someone just told you to knife someone or something, you wouldn't just go along with it. It's more the fear that they might make you, or that they have some power over you. A lot of fear.
As far as visual stuff goes, I might have interacted with them? If so, it was during high school which is really just a blur of nonstop psychosis where I believed I was some being from another dimension and that the end of the world was coming and then I'd ascend to my true form. Because the trees were screaming. That's how I knew we'd be bombed in the future. Stuff like that. My psychosis was most extreme as far as delusions go. Though I do remember seeing things, and interacting with them on some level, but I can't remember anything specific. The entire time was kind of traumatic.
That's another thing not many people talk about. Psychosis can be traumatic by itself. You learn that nothing in life is permanent. Things could change at any moment. I'm talking about object permanence. The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be observed that you develop when you're a child. It can be broken down.
Things seem to be connected. I used to put great importance on seeing crows. I'd see it as a good omen, but if something bad happened, then I'd think they were warning me. If a coincidence happens, it reinforces the belief that x thing is connected to y.
When I was first getting treatment, my visual stuff would generally be seeing someone, or a shadow person, and then they'd be gone. One time I woke up and I saw myself standing over me, and I knew I couldn't trust them. It went away quickly.
There's a youtube video I could link. It's basically a really good simulation of auditory hallucinations of various types. There's the insults, and such. But also the more random talking that I've experienced.
I could really type forever about this. xD It's amazing how much misinformation is out there, or how a few people's cases become the standard. People with psychosis are much more likely to be victimized than be violent themselves. Police don't know how to handle mental health emergencies, so people get shot or beaten.
I've had instances when I've told family or such what I have, and they'd reply with something like 'no you don't. You're not crazy. I've seen crazy people!' Schiz = dangerous to the majority of people in my experience. It's a mess.
But yeah, I have resources if anyone is interested in learning about psychosis stuff. >> Sorry for rambling.
I would definitely be interested in the video, and also whatever else as well, I always love learning about these things as well.
And yeah the whole thing with not doing it definitely makes sense and I think is a good way of explaining it. I think that's one of those things that are really portrayed in the media but are portrayed really poorly as well.
Also sorry to hear about that trauma and stuff though with object permanence, I can't imagine how bad that must've been to go through as well.
But yeah, I guess in a way the whole not crazy thing is right, because your not crazy (at least not from my observations) although part of me gets the feeling they're coming from the wrong place with that.
Regardless though it's okay that you rambled, I really liked all the stuff and sorry as well if my own post is really weird, I never know how to respond too such long comments since there's so much (wonderful) information to address.
Are you working? How do you deal with a work environment?
Do developmental disorders count as mental illnesses? I've never really got a straight answer on that. Anyway I'm on the autism spectrum. I have a lot of sensory problems and it's hard for me to deal with a lot of things without stimming (self-stimulating behavior, hand flapping in my case). When I was a kid there was very little autism awareness, especially for verbal autistic kids, so I went undiagnosed until I was an adult. It was really rough when I thought I was 'messed up' because of a moral failing or because I wasn't trying hard enough, finding out I was autistic made my life suddenly snap into focus. Everything just made sense.
If left to my own devices I'll just ramble so if anyone wants to know anything specific feel free to ask.
I would imagine that it does. I know anytime I've heard it talked about it was always referred to as a mental illness/disorder.
It can defiantly suck though thinking that having a mental illness is your fault (of which it obviously is not)
One thing I am curious about is what types of treatment people tried with you? And did any of it work?
Well, no therapy is ever going to make me not autistic since there isn't a cure for it. It's been a difference in how my brain is wired from the day I was born, and barring some incredible breakthrough that allows brain rewiring it's going to be that way until I die.
Any therapy that autistic people have is just going to be about dealing with symptoms that cause you problems (anxiety and depression are pretty large comorbidities with people on the spectrum, and there are therapies that try to help sensory disturbances) and to help increase your executive functioning/practical life skills. For a long time people thought that if you could just make autistic people look normal then we would be normal. But it's become obvious that it doesn't work that way and that therapy needs to be centered around helping you be as independent as possible rather than focusing on making you appear non-autistic. For instance, there used to be a huge emphasis on stopping autistic people from stimming. Many therapists are now starting to recognize that it's not helpful and might actually be detrimental to force autistic people to not stim, since it helps many of us process sensory information.
The best thing I've got out of therapy is learning to recognize when I'm overwhelmed and accepting that it's okay for me to remove myself from the overstimulating situation and let my senses recover rather than force myself to become more and more overwhelmed for the sake of appearing 'normal'. I used to be very hard on myself anytime I failed at being 'normal', but therapy has help me come to terms with the fact I am different and that's okay. It just means I need to put a lot more work into the things I want to do.
Well it's definitely a good thing then that people could have learned to move past that idea of just trying to get people to be normal and all.
Additionally congrats to you for being able to spot that and at least try to remove yourself from those situations.
I've suffered with anorexia, bulimia, depression, and some obsessive compulsive tendencies. Luckily I've managed to move past most of those to a large degree, but they've had a pretty profound impact on who I am and how I interact with the world, and destigmatizing mental illnesses is something that I've become pretty passionate about.
I'm happy to answer any questions about my experiences with any/all of those if people have questions. I've done a lot of self-analysis and reflection to come to a pretty good understanding of myself and illnesses, and talking about it is the most important part of increasing understanding and acceptance!
Generalized anxiety, I suppose! I've more or less learned to deal with it over the past two years.
How have you learned to deal with it? So far my strategy is too just curl up and wait for it too go away (this is a sub-optimal strategy).
Anxiety, OCD checking in!
Oh man this actually made me bust out my powers of Google. I didn't know there were different types of OCD before.
One thing I wonder is do you have autogenus or reactive? If you don't mind my asking.
Autogenous
Depression, anxiety, sensory issues... also not sure how chronic pain fits into any of it, but have that too.
Sensory issues? Can you explain more about what that means?
And chronic pain definitely has a huge impact on mental health? So I think that fits as well.
I can't stand certain noises -- misophonia -- crunching, ripping paper. I dread birthday parties and mail being opened. It's very much a problem with holidays. (Thankfully I don't celebrate Christmas, and for Chanukah I give my kids gift bags.) Certain textures have almost caused a panic attack. I don't really know how to explain it. I like drinking cold water, but I will not touch ice in order to have it.
Wow, crazy, I didn't know that was a thing. Thanks for sharing. Sorry you have to deal with that. :(
I've got general depression and anxiety, which manifests in a few different ways: as Seasonal Affective Disorder sometimes, OCD other times, panic attacks other times, and general anxiety and depression other times. I'm so grateful to be a part of a group like this, where we can each find support and solidarity and not stigma.
I have ADHD, and I know a few people with anxiety.
I have OCD, PTSD, and ADHD. I used to suffer from depression and an eating disorder when I was younger also, but no longer.
I have Panic disorder
right now depression is the biggest issue and in the past i've struggled with anxiety and OCD
No idea what mine would be called, as I'm pretty sure it was caused by lack of oxygen at birth (umbilical cord strangled me). I was medically dead until nearly 8 mins of attempted recessitation. My brain works differently, and I have a partially developed audiographic memory (Im only 20, it develops with age). I posted about it a few weeks ago in this community. Questions welcome
I used to think I have a depression through most of my adult life. Then a new psychiatrist I went to diagnosed me as OCD - leading to a depression.
BPD, Depression, Anxiety, and cPtsd. Husband has Major depressive disorder. Makes for an interesting living situation.
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) / Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).
Hello! Are you interested in talking about your experiences with those? I'm concerned about some of my family members probably having these... No pressure, just interested.
I certainly wouldn't mind. Any questions specifically?
What were/are your symptoms like? How were you diagnosed? Do you have recommendations for family members of those with undiagnosed but suspected personality/narcissism disorders?
Thanks for sharing!
I have not been diagnosed, but the therapist I saw for a short time had similar thoughts. I thoroughly researched the DSM and the critera for NPD and BPD and drew conclusions from my own behavior.
BPD and NPD are both Cluster B Personality Disorders. Those with BPD are more likely to seek help but have a high suicide rate. Those with NPD rarely seek help, as we don't realize how toxic our behavior and thought processes are - we find the fault in everyone but ourselves.
Those with BPD will likely have wildly fluctuating moods - one hour they will be incredibly loving and affectionate (idealizing you) then the next they are aloof and can't stand to be around you (demonizing you). They easily split (jarring white and black thinking - there is no gray area to them) on people, despite if they are very close to them.
They also likely have strong abandonment fears to the point where they will pre-emptively push you away (self-fulfilling prophecy behavior) or they will do anything to prevent you from leaving, even if it means abusing you (though they tend not to realize that what they are doing is abusive, that is how strong their fear of abandonment is). Their self-esteem is very very very low, so their line of thinking tends to be "I'm a piece of shit, everyone deserves to leave me, I should go die." They tend to imprint on one or a small amount of people that will make or break their day. Whatever happens regarding with their imprinted person(s) will set their mood. They also lack relationship permanence, and need to constantly be reminded that they remain in the same level (e.g. I need my fiance to constantly tell me he loves me. After 4+ hours of not hearing this validation, I will begin to think that he does not love me anymore, he's cheating on me, he's going to leave me, etc.)
Those with NPD also tend to suffer very low self-esteem, but some are better at lying to themselves than others and thus look "not mentally ill". They can seem full of themselves, arrogant even, and simply expect favoritism because their logic is, "I deserve everything good, despite not doing anything to be rewarded." They also have a constant need and desire for validation or attention (negative or positive), termed a 'narcissistic supply'. When they don't receive that supply, they will become depressed and go into a "low" mood cycle.
I would suggest going through DSM checklists as thoroughly as you can regarding your family members. It's fairly straightforward. Also remember to check off the answers as if they're AT THEIR LOWEST MENTAL HEALTH POINT to accurately gauge how severe the mental illness is.
Bipolar checking in! AMA
Generalized anxiety with a side of major depression and some ptsd like tendencies from an emotionally abusive mother. Open to questions.
PTSD, depression, anxiety, possibly undiagnosed ADD. Questions welcome!