Very good question. And probably depends on the kind of "mental illness" one has?
When I first went to therapy 55 years ago I conformed pretty well to what society expected, including skinnier females than I was at 14. So I went on a diet, but then got skinnier and skinnier and my parents got worried. They took me to an internist, who referred me to a psychiatrist, who said I had "anorexia nervosa". It used to be that the mortality rate was about 10%. So, yeah, people found that odd -- and dangerous for my physical survival.
This kind of thing was looked on as a "mental illness" back then. Still is, but increasingly what you see being offered is "behavioral health" services. Which is kind of like "why can't you behave better?" More degrading, to me, than "mental health". More focused on the society and what they want, rather than the client or patient and the problems they may be having.
In lots of cases what people are choosing to do, that other people find "odd", is not dangerous to themselves or others but simply makes other people uncomfortable. And so then they tend to judge or avoid or reject us, which makes life not so great for us.
When I started therapy, I was "overcontrolled", so therapists told me to get in touch with and express my emotions. I worked very hard at doing that -- and then the last therapist terminated me because "she didn't have the emotional resources" to continue therapy with me.
Huh?
At least I have a pretty good off/on switch and can still keep the problematic emotions largely turned off when I'm with other people. It means I'm kind of stiff and it requires a lot of energy and hypervigilance and so I don't really enjoy being with other people much, either. That's looked on as "odd", too, of course.
Guess I'm just still a little malfunctioning in my circuitry? Maybe I should stop looking down on myself about that, though? Even if society does.
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