You are free to form you own opinions and have your own faith or soul or purpose identity, as your yadda yaddy private song goes. It is your idea of your own medicine and you can be sciolistic for yourself.

I did say that it is possible that some people use mental illness as an excuse or an escape or even a sort of fad as you have pointed out in that group of people you describe that seem to have it all but obviously they need to have depression too.
There is a saying "Poor little rich girl" that might fit to that group.

I myself have said to psychiatrists that there is no magic pill that can change or replace the loss or what had happened to me. I described a need for grief couciling and rest as I had not had any. Well I was thought to be unreasonable for that request. I did know that I needed to go through a process of acceptance as I was exhausted and in shock.

One of the things that people do not realize about PTSD is there are varying degrees of it. We can have experiences that are traumatic and, yes, we can move on and put it in our past, even learn and grow from it. But there are experiences that for some reason, even though one wants to put it in the past and learn from it and forget, they experience intrusions of UNWANTED flashbacks that THEY CANNOT SEEM TO CONTROL. Unless one experiences this, they are ignorant by stating that it can just be pushed away as that is what the vicitm wishes to do and when the victim is unsuccessful they become depressed or angry.

I dont think that I would truely understand a flashback without having one. When I had mine I raced through my past and wanted to just attack it and address it and stop the flashbacks from occuring. I did manage to decrease them as I was so determined and I had felt that, ok, it is possible to fight it. But then I was addressing them again, and it came out without warning. And the brain is sort of frozen in that moment, you cant speak or get away, it is very confusing and upsetting. And is even more upsetting when it happens in your sleep and it is really happening in your mind and it traps you in an event, time, moment. Not a very pleasant experience. But those who have it get angry and want to find a way to stop it from happening. It has nothing to do with pretending, luxuriating, or saying it is a choice.

Yes, some can hide within their illness, I am sure that happens as often it can be a source of control. However there are those the choose to do the work and try to get through illness or live around it and become to realize it is an option. I had done that many times in my life, so I do understand that it is hard, but it is possible.

However I do not want to undermine those that do suffer, are not pretending, and are trying to do the work and need more help and even support. And most of all understanding.

Open Eyes