[still_crazy]

I mean...well, I'm mostly asking about me, but I imagine it would extend to other people.

What does most of 21st century American society call someone who cannot work, has problems, and requires a tranquilizer? A WEAKLING, that's what!

What does my shrink call the malady? Bipolar I, mostly because I now have my somewhat affluent, well-educated parents behind me. That and I'm a white male and apparently my IQ estimate is higher than I'd thought, so that = "Bipolar I." I get the sense that if I was a minority, female, living in real poverty, etc., they'd be injecting me with Haldol every 4 weeks or so, with or without my consent.

Point is...do you think maybe, in modern America, a mental illness label is really the only way to get some...space? No one cares! I can say "Look, I had probs in my teens, nobody cared, downward spiral...now, I'm in a position to actually do something, and I'd like to, OK?" and most people will go "WEAKLING! POOR LIFE CHOICES!" But...

...if an "expert" says (as my "expert" says now) that I was "really" severely mentally ill for most of my life, and I"m just now "in recovery," that buys me some space, especially since I have my (loving, kind, long suffering) family behind me.

I don't mean to ramble. I'm just thinking about it and its just...well, my situation is better than it was before, better than what a lot of us "mental patients" are subjected to, true...its just fundamentally messed up. That's all.