[learning1]

Okay, I don't know how to make a poll, but I thought I'd add this post to go along with the worst mental illness post. Does anyone have a feeling that experience of mental illness can be positive? Does this post make any sense?

Sometimes I think my depression gives me a deeper experience in life even though I want to change the distorted thinking. I've read autobiographies of people with mental illness that left me admiring their lives, including their mental... experience. I'm still not sure if this post is self contradictory or not.

[RunningEagleRuns]

Originally Posted by learning1

Okay, I don't know how to make a poll, but I thought I'd add this post to go along with the worst mental illness post. Does anyone have a feeling that experience of mental illness can be positive? Does this post make any sense?

Sometimes I think my depression gives me a deeper experience in life even though I want to change the distorted thinking. I've read autobiographies of people with mental illness that left me admiring their lives, including their mental... experience. I'm still not sure if this post is self contradictory or not.

Well, being psychotic is like being on drugs. And you can say you've been through a "hard time" (having a mental illness and all)

I'd say the best to have is like.... Anxiety

To make a poll scroll down on the page you use to create a topic. It's down there somewhere, it'll ask how many options you want.

[Umbral_Seraph]

Like with any illness your life views will altered; it is up to you whether or not your illness breaks your spirit and drags you down or if it leaves you with a feeling of appreciation for all the little things everyone "normal" takes for granted.

[Sabrina]

I cannot say that my mental illness was anything in terms of "best" to me. But it did make me a stronger person. Without a doubt.

[krisakira]

no illness is "best" , it is best to not have brain disorders just like it is best to not have cancer. its like asking whats the best kind of cancer to have? none cause they can all kill you. every mental illness has the potential to be debilitating, and whoever says anxiety is the best to have clearly hasn't had a panic attack. sorry i just hate these kind of questions

[sugahorse1]

I second Sabrina's post - it has made me a stronger person. But no, Bipolar is not a great ride to be on; and the depression is crippling

[Fresia]

I'm with Sabrina and Sugahorse.... it has made me stronger, more insightful, understanding, and compassionate. For this I am appreciative.

This best and worst thing .... all MI impacts our lives to varying degrees even within each diagnosis. I can see the struggles with each one and that each one can be mildly annoying to leading to death, all at the same time depending on the person; it is how each one responds and handles it, if one can get and respond to treatment, and the nature of the illness in how it touches us. There are too many variables and is too individualized even within each diagnosis.

No one diagnosis is better or worse because you cannot be in someone else's shoes to know how you would respond and how things would go for you being faced with what they are faced with. Looking in is not the same as experiencing it. Look how hard it is for many of us to describe what we are going through to others and how many times they have no idea what we're talking about? Pdoc and T's can empathize but even they have no idea, unless they've been through it themselves; yes, they've seen evidence of what's happening to us but even they cannot relate or know. There is no way to know until you've been through it. So how can we judge another diagnosis or is that the grass is always greener on the other side?

To me the best one is not having one.

[Perna]

My own I believe my mind and body came up with it for me, doing the best they could to help me thrive in a difficult environment until I could either heal or find help.

[anna342]

Is this some kind of joke?

There is nothing good/best/fun about dealing with mental illness. The whole point is it's an illness or disorder or problem you're coping with. There is nothing positive about having to do that. There is positivity in recovery, but not in an illness, that very idea seems pretty wrong to me.

[pachyderm]

Mania, obviously.

[DocJohn]

We just closed this topic. Please do not start a new thread on a topic that has already been closed (even if it's a slightly different take on the same thing). There is no "best" when it comes to comparing different illnesses...