[noneedtoknow]

Ever wonder how much is truly "mental illness" and how much is just poor coping? Sometimes I wonder. Just putting it out there to hear others thoughts, opinions, experiences. And please, I am in no way implying that people do not have "mental illnesses" and it is just all poor coping.

[mistica]

I am not an expert on any of this, and only recently (in the last year) began seeking treatment for my issues. I don't even know what my issues are so there's a lot that I don't know. But I actually think I suffer from the latter (poor coping) more than I do from mental illness. I am aware of what's going on with my thoughts and feelings and can almost always tell when my thoughts are irrational and unhealthy. But for various reasons I feel ill-equipped to deal with challenging situations and I let these things affect my job and school performance and personal life. I even see "poor coping" as a serious problem that I need to overcome through therapy and other methods that I have yet to determine, even if I don't have a diagnosable mental illness. It has interfered with my ability to find contentment in my life and to achieve goals, and has led to me feeling downright miserable and depressed. So to me, whatever my issues are, the impact on my life that they've had has been tremendous and the need to work through my issues is great. I guess my point is that things like poor coping, or low self-esteem and shyness in my case, maybe anger management for others, may not be mental illnesses, but can cause enough problems in life that it's worth getting help for them. (My apologies if anything I have mentioned is actually a mental illness.)

Again, I don't know nearly as much about mental illness as I'd like to know, and I don't know what would define mental illness. I have wondered if I do have a "condition" or just bad habits in my thought patterns, but have never undergone any testing.

Originally Posted by noneedtoknow

Ever wonder how much is truly "mental illness" and how much is just poor coping? Sometimes I wonder. Just putting it out there to hear others thoughts, opinions, experiences. And please, I am in no way implying that people do not have "mental illnesses" and it is just all poor coping.

[Perna]

I don't think of it as poor coping but just not enough or the right kind of emotional educational experiences. I think we cope very well, that's what our defenses do for us, we just don't gain the tools/experiences to move on from coping in ways that don't help us anymore.

[madisgram]

in my experience being bipolar i've found that learning new coping skills, boundary setting, etc. in therapy-i didn't have many at first-has helped particularly in my reasoning to ward off many depressive triggers. may not work for everybody but it sure helped me. i know i'm bipolar, just take me off meds and see. i knew i didn't possess an understanding about life/coping.
so therapy/CBT + meds works in my dealing with emotions that set off my bipolar. if i left out one in the equation i'd be stuck.

[venusss]

you know well what I think.

that we people, especially in the west are not good at coping. we break apart so easily... we expect everything in life to be easy... and when it is not, we cannot deal with it.

[gma45]

Originally Posted by noneedtoknow

Ever wonder how much is truly "mental illness" and how much is just poor coping? Sometimes I wonder. Just putting it out there to hear others thoughts, opinions, experiences. And please, I am in no way implying that people do not have "mental illnesses" and it is just all poor coping.

Yes I have wondered about that and I have come to the conclusion that I have poor coping skills dealing with my mental illness!

[noneedtoknow]

Thank you so much everyone for your honest replies. It is alot for me to think about. Good wishes to all as you continue your journeys!