Thanks for making this post, thickntired. It relates quite a lot to the similar if not same issue I have with the mental health "system" or care process that frustrates me...

To be sure, some people's mental health struggles are more "obvious" in that those are nature of the symptoms. I don't mean to say I hold this against people or find it ridiculous or something of that sort - it's just a different struggle.

On the other hand, the problems I deal with are "closet" issues...major depression, anxiety, anorexia, nos mood/anger disorder, and just recently I've discovered I may have either schizoid and possibly avoidant personality disorder, which would explain in part if not fully why I have been so able to hide these things much of the time.

Because of my personality/way of dealing with my mental health struggles, I am quiet, not very revealing at all, and understated without meaning to. I feel like I have always gotten the short end of the stick with treatment/diagnosis just because I'm not "loud" enough. As if less effort was spent on me because of the way I appeared in the office, despite my continued worsening issues, emotional emails (it's easier not face-to-face), and described symptoms (even if I do state them with zero emotion or tears). I would do better, so to speak, to have myself heard, but therein is where my problems lie anyway, isn't it? Stuck.

It's just thoroughly disturbing to me that the mental healthcare trend seems to be catering to these more outward displays, and thinking of the quiet ones as sort of more able to "deal." It's almost this feeling of, "Oh, well you're not having hallucinations or being abrasive to others or talking to yourself constantly in public, so because you're not disturbing anyone, you'll be fine."

I have known others describe the types of situations you have in inpatient setting, and it's so frustrating. Indeed, they are just filling up beds. Yes, clearly by faking a mental health crisis, they have a condition fueling that... but they need to be held accountable for whatever it is, pathological lying, grandiose thoughts, whatever - legally if need be, for fraudulence. Furthermore, a liar does not need a hospital bed or 24 hour care, especially when it's just a desperate person looking for handouts or are desperate to feed their family. Things are just too lax, and I pity the doctors caught up in this because everyone is so sue-happy now.