Quote:
Originally Posted by apfei
I tried political activism in the late 1990s and i was dismayed to find that despite being left wing orgs, they were not welcoming re my bipolar. They were just as backward as the gen pop.
Years later, after i had abandoned political activism, a friend pointed out that it was because not all the people involved were having their basic needs met and they were acting out. Could be.
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Greetings, apfei, and thanks A LOT for posting on my thread. Yes, it's pretty darn sad about the political left being so ignorant and unfeeling about mental illness. I was in a group of single progressives years ago. There were two very mentally ill people who started coming and disrupting the meetings. Very delusional people, monopolizing conversations and stuff. I recommended that the group work with them to try to arrange some sort of workable communication. But there was no interest in doing that! I found that very odd, considering that social programs, including for example mental health programs vs jails, etc, are promoted more by the political left than the political right. The group I am/was active in is neither left nor right, but includes people who want to work together on local environmental and health issues. I wrote to one of my critics (who keeps inviting me back) that good communication uses "I messages," and not "You messages." I gave him some examples of how to use the "I messages" vs "you messages." I know I'll get a response, but have no idea what he'll say to these suggestions. IF I go back, which is doubtful at this point even though I have plenty of friends in the group, there needs to be a discussion about "I messages" and learning to handle strong emotions. The thing is, we are told by various members (1) not to post on the listserv if we are upset about something; (2) that showing impatience, etc, is bad for new members; (3) also not to talk about these things with others outside the group. Okay, so what the **** do we do instead? I feel like all avenues for discussing/venting frustration are evidently blocked.