Sorry if this doesn't go here, I can never find I good place for stuff like this.

I get really annoyed when people pretend or exaggerate to varying degrees some sort of mental illness.

Last (school)year I was in Tech 10. It was filled with just about all grade 9s, and there was one other girl. We weren't really friends, and she's kind of annoying, but we talked some because I had no one else to talk to. Near the end of the year she came into class one day and just told me she thought she had depression. Throughout that class she opened pages about depression and symptoms and she would say things like "I have all of these". That day she was acting really low (acting, quite obvious) and then when we went out of the classroom to go outside she would walk reeeaaaally slowly. And she would say "can you come with me, I shouldn't be alone in case I hurt myself". It was all really sudden and obviously not real, at least 100%. It doesn't happen in a day like that. And then the next class (two days later) she was completely fine. This was really annoying and I hate when people do stuff like this. She was straight up pretending/exaggerating.

Now I have this friend now who keeps talking about having social anxiety and stuff. She just talks about how she can't answer to teachers loudly, and how she was getting anxious when a teacher was going in order and was about to get to her. Now I think these might be and definitely can be "symptoms" of social anxiety, but it doesn't make it in and of itself. And yesterday we were waiting in the cafeteria with my other friends before volleyball tryouts and doing homework. I have Psychology and she and another friend have it in another block. We had a sheet that had an article about memory and memory lapses and their importance. There was a paragraph about things that can make your memory falter and we had a question where we had to list them (stress, depression, anxiety, fatigue, age). And she would say "all of these are me" or "I have four out of five of these" and stuff like that. (She also has a bit of iron deficiency/anemia but isn't really doing anything about it.) Whenever she says these things she laughs, and she doesn't say any of it really seriously. I understand that she might have some problems, but saying it like that and knowing her I'm pretty sure that it's not that bad at least.

And another thing with that same friend. My other friend wanted to use her laptop for something and accidentally changed the size of the icons on the desktop. Everyone's good friends and it's a stupid little thing so everyone's good-natured about it and laughing. But she also said "you have to change it back to how it was! You know I'm OCD about them!" Another thing that I really hate is when people say something like that and just trivialize those things for people who actually have a real problem. They diminish the real value of all of it. Similarly when people say "____ made me depressed" or "now I'm depressed". I know with "depressed" it can be a fine line because there's the illness but it's also how people use it to describe a mood, like pretty sad. But you can tell when people actually say it in the way it shouldn't be said. And in elementary school I had a great friend (and honestly a lot of people to different degrees) who would say things like "that's going to drive my OCD crazy" or she would fix something to be exact or aligned and say "sorry, I'm OCD about this stuff". And she would say how she's claustrophobic but she's totally fine in every situation I've seen her in. And I very much dislike when people say something made them have a panic attack, and it most definitely didn't. It might have made them freak out about something (totally trivial and unimportant) or maybe given them quite a bit of anxiety, but NOT A PANIC ATTACK. And people who say they have ADHD but don't and just say they get distracted a lot and can't focus when they just have bad work ethics.

A while ago my brother and I were talking to someone who we met (family work friend's nephew) and we were talking (mostly my brother and the other guy because I'm too shy) about how the situation was around here doing with homeless people, sketchiness, and gangs and such. My brother was saying how it's a safe place around here except for people who have schizophrenia and talk to themselves on the train and such. I can't explain it very well (because that's the way I am), but it was definitely in that way that is misconstrued and not understanding as well. Because I know that a lot of people with schizophrenia don't talk to themselves, and are great people that function pretty well. And there are other people who don't have schizophrenia who are like he was describing.

Stuff like this. It just gets to me. There are other things to do with my parents and me and my problems specifically, but this is stuff outside of that that I hate hearing. Does anybody else have strong thoughts about this or have any stories? I wish I could correct people (at least on smaller stuff) but I get too nervous or anxious and think about it too much. My friends don't know about my problems and I don't want to be someone who just corrects everything.

Sorry about the long-winded post and I'm sorry it's not very eloquent and might not make sense the whole time. I really wanted to get it out somewhere.

There's still a lot of ignorance, fear and shame associated with mental illness. I would say, to a large degree, it's socially acceptable to put down people with mental illness. I would even go so far as to say that some people will make fun of mental illness in an attempt to "fit in."

This will change only when people with mental illness "come out of the closet" and challenge the person making the derogatory comments. When you put a face on an illness it becomes personal, and people who know people with mental illness tend not to make fun of mental illness.

I think it's just a lot of ignorance. Especially when people talk about having OCD. Not even an hour later, that friend I was talking about said "I'm OCD" about cutting a piece of paper in half... and she did a pretty terrible job at it. I see that there are a lot of people who say they have OCD when they are just perfectionists, and often they aren't even perfectionists but just wanted to align something or make it look nice. I don't have OCD (I don't think, maybe a trait or two but that doesn't mean anything) and I spent a really long time folding the edges of those papers we needed to cut them straight. I was almost late for my next class because I was being really strict about it. I can't even right in pen because I fear making a mistake (I am terrified this year because a lot of things are required to be in pen, and some you aren't allowed to white out ). But I have never said I have OCD. I wouldn't say anything if it wasn't diagnosed for sure.

I said I never correct anyone or say anything when people say something that isn't true or correct but I actually did once or twice, but very little. I felt sort of good about it. One of my teachers last year always cleaned stuff in his classroom and had Lysol wipes and spray. He made a student hold down her own crumpled piece of paper so he would sign it and was very insistent on clean hands and staying home when your sick and all that (but that goes for all teachers to smaller degrees). So we could see that he was at least somewhat of a germaphobe (to use the most common term) and people were saying he might have OCD. I was talking to a classmate about it and I obviously don't know everything about him and don't want to make assumptions and stuff so I said that I don't know if he has OCD but he seems to have a cleanliness thing so maybe it's just OCPD. And then I told her that it's obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, which is less of a problem usually and is more just how someone acts and is art of their personality. (Again, I'm not very good at explaining things.)

So I have done a bit, so I'll just remind myself to go with baby steps when it comes to this. My problem is that in my head I want to get kind of defensive, but then when I imagine myself saying it then I get a lot of anxiety. So maybe when it's something even smaller (I say hopefully). Then I can start and hopefully work up to the more common things people say.

[ninjasm]

These things bother me a lot too. I recently "came out of the crazy closet" to my parents, brother and some random people. There was some sympathy, but many said things like they understand and always knew it about me. My mom in particular seems to think that she completely understands what it is like to be inside my head. Many people would say they have such and such too but had never been to a doc, diagnosed or needed help.

I am particularly put off by people saying calling themselves OCD or depressed - describing their actions or those of others as panic - using the term crazy (even though that's the word I prefer to use to describe myself because it is so much more simple) - psycho - delusional - etc.

These things have bothered me for a long time - I'm trying to get to a better place with it. I think what makes it so hard for people to understand is that, in my opinion, most mental conditions are an exaggeration of things that are normal. It is normal to feel down at times and just want to stay in bed - and they may think that is depression. It is normal to obsess at times or have some thing they want to organize - and they may think that is OCD. It is normal to get nervous at times over being in public, making a decision, being uncertain etc - and they may think that is anxiety. It is normal to have your heart rate go up or feel a little weird when you are really nervous - and they may think that is panic. It is normal to imagine things - and they may think that is what delusions feel like. Everyone has inner thoughts - and they may think that is what "voices" feels like. Psychosis is very misunderstood. Crazy isn't considered an offensive term. What they don't understand is the exaggeration of all of the "normal" versions of these things.

It isn't normal to feel so down it causes physical symptoms or if those feelings last for days/weeks/months (decades for me). It isn't normal for obsessive thoughts to be incredibly ruminative and be unshakable. It isn't normal to not be able to stop thinking about something and to turn it into a math problem that you spend hours and hours doing long division or making spreadsheets instead of paying attention or eating or sleeping. It isn't normal to feel like you are dying in a panic attack or having to lay down in an airport terminal and telling your son to squeeze your hand and keep talking so you know he is still there. It isn't normal to have four songs in your head at once while you have voices in your head telling you how awful you are, at times screaming, other times just narrating, other times talking to each other. It isn't normal that one of these voices is such a big part of you that you named it "The Dragon." It isn't normal to assume all strangers hate you before meeting you. It isn't normal to jump to conclusions that all of your family and friends are disappointed in you and resent you and are only friendly because they are too nice to tell you to ^&*( off. It isn't normal to be able to make a list like I just did and feel like you've only just scratched the surface of your issues.

BBUUTT just like we expect to be understood even though no one can really know what it is like to be us. We have to understand that they can't possibly understand what it is like for the normal things to be grossly exaggerated in us. It sucks. But it's the way it is.

I don't like to assume I know what people are going through. Everyone reacts to things differently-maybe laughing is her way of coping with her issues? And I do many people who call themselves OCD probably don't actually suffer from it, but then again I don't know what they're dealing with either.

Sometimes people DO mock mental illness and make it a joke. But the things you described do not sound like it. Exaggeration-yes. But even that indicates the person has a problem of some sort.

[-jimi-]

You never know.

I never "blame" anything mental anymore because the reactions are so weird. I once totally forgot something, it just disappeared from my mind, and I have no idea how it happened. So I said "I'm really sorry, but I guess I have to blame my ADD here".

The person exploded on me with "You know there are people out there with REAL PROBLEMS and they really have ADD blah blah blah..."

I was stunned. I found my voice and said that I do indeed have ADD. They then said I don't.

And that was that.

ninjasm - I obviously don't know you or your parents, or how everything went down when you told them, and of course I believe you, but I just want to add that sometimes parents or people that care about you try and sympathize and make you feel less alone. Sometimes they don't go about it right and make you feel like you're not actually having a hard time. ((hugs))
What you have said is put wonderfully. I don't think I could possibly add anything to that. I feel the same way and you described it better than I ever could.

Anna - I never make assumptions about what people are going through, especially because I know how hard it is for me and never having told anybody. I know that everyone reacts differently and it's something I always consider. I know this friend very well and I don't know how to say it but I know that she doesn't have these things, as an illness at least. I think what ninja said could maybe be it, if that. That she feels the normal things that everyone feels, like regular anxiety and feeling low, but not a mental illness. At the moment I'm very frazzled so I'm sorry if I'm being even less eloquent than usual. Unfortunately I know her and my friends and how they make jokes and... I can't remember what else I was going to say. I'm not trying to be someone who just says "I know they don't have this or that because I see the way they act and I know who they are", because that's a problem a lot of people have with their parents and others, but I have no other way to put it right now.

jimi - I never say things about mental health or illness. I don't want to sound like I'm someone who doesn't seriously have something, and I also don't want or need to tell anyone about it. I usually don't say a reason, or sometimes it's just "that's the way I am", "this always happens", or I just apologize. The scenario you described sounds like you didn't need to mention ADD, people forget things all the time. That's probably partially why that person reacted the way they did. Sorry, this sounds like I'm blaming you... Sorry that you were in that situation.

Gosh, today really isn't my day for trying to talk. Sorry if I sound stand-offish. I don't mean to!

Attention getting is what this is. They are trying to draw sympathy.

[ninjasm]

Hi again Riker. I like this discussion.

I'm pretty "out" now as far as mental illness. I really don't care who knows at this point. I'm not a victim of it, but a survivor. I feel like if there were more, a lot more, people who are willing to discuss it then, conversation by conversation, we can slowly change the dialogue.

If met with someone that doubts how I describe myself I politely tell them that I'm a chameleon and am very good at hiding my true colors. (which in my mind is me calling them an idiot somehow). I can be an example of success in light of mental illness hurdles. I also like to say that my issues are very different from other people's. We all face different obstacles in life... for those with mental illness the biggest obstacle just might be ourselves.

I like being able to talk about this to someone. I can't do that with anyone I know, not always because they are like this.

I wouldn't mind being "out" but there are so many people who still have the mentality of "you have no reason for (insert mental illness)" and who might as easily think that I'm not telling the truth.

I, too, hide things pretty well most of the time, but occasionally it gets to be too much and it shows. But most people would put it off as either just being a teenager, being weird, or something else (depending on what exactly it is I'm showing).
I know that I could be one of my biggest obstacles. I do have others but most of them do come back to me. It's just so hard, and the mental illnesses make it even harder. Sometimes it feels like there's no end to it.

And I also wanted to add something to do with that friend of mine. She jokes the same way about it all the way she joked about having cancer yesterday. She was saying "I have cancer. So much cancer", when indeed she does not. She was talking about school when she made the remarks. This is how she's been joking about the stuff she said. It really is just a joke to her, for most of it at least. She might have some (regular) anxiety, but so do most people.

I recently had a discussion with a diirtbag who accused me of bilking the system. He felt that as I 'looked okay' and was capable of the occasional volunteering that I wasn't sick and could "bloody well get a job." This so hurt. I tried to explain the difference between the two, that volunteering doesn't have the same vested interest in performance as I'm not getting paid. There simply isn't the same level of anxiety and terror in something I can walk away from, etc. I never even bothered to explain to this person that I've never been able to hold down a job due to fear. I never even bothered to explain my bipolar makes me swing from states I probably am capable of working, states I can't even get out of bed, and states you probably wouldn't want me on the job in the first place.

[glitterbutterfly]

Tumblr is great at trivialising mental illness.

[Takeshi]

dummies.com, they have informations for mental illnesses.

[KarenSue]

I think some words (that once referred only to an illness) have become common vernacular in our colloquial (common) speech. For instance, I would say I am particular about how I leave my desk at the end of the day. I like my stapler on the right, my phone on the left, and I leave a pad and pen in the center. If someone came through when I was not there and used the pad or the stapler and did not place them back where I had it, I'm cool. I just put it back. I do not have a diagnosis of OCD, or the symptoms.

Seems today, one might hear someone say "I'm OCD about how I leave my desk at the end of the day" where I say "I'm particular about how I......" The term has entered our language as something unrelated to an actual mental illness.

I prefer to try my best to use proper English and stay away from current slang/other use of a word. (And...I don't know a lot of the current slang).

FYI: I'm old school, and I'm older. (57) Neeto

[Takeshi]

Thinking about "coming out of the closet" and the bully mentality in our history, this teaches me something. Once a person's mind is open, they do mind their own behaviors for others. Social justice warriors. B-B-Bupolar fighters/dad/psychiatrist/lawyers/warriors. Murderers!! I've also heard about a guy who claimed to be a real psychopath, I can believe in almost anything and that's a good thing. The kid sent out a comment on youtube or somewhere that he'd kill other kid, I truly don't remember where I heard this from. The threat. It's really funny if you think about it. Did he claim to be a psychopathic killa or what?

B-mom, she's a bright person, shizo boy on youtube, I miss him. I don't mind the gimmicks. "I see dead people.". This never gets popularized, so I need to use my radio activated power to spread the words that seeing a dead people is okay. Films and tvs ain't a public service announcement, if it hurts you, don't watch, like the last depressing star wars film. I've read a good thing about the film, I hope it doesn't contain any hidden agenda. The thing I'm relating to is the fairness of our gender role in our society.

Are we doublethinking all the time or not? "Mad man" on a cable tv channel. Someone musta analyzed it, I tried few episodes and it didn't resonate with me. "Why do you watch tv?" "I just watch it." and this ain't alright. DID, they sure did something, "United States of Tara", it went on a couple of seasons. It's all the perceptions that you're in and you're capable of creating ones in your own minds.

The joker, she could become a great actor, I bet she use vocabs like "The weather's been bipolar, I hate it!". I wanna meet her, the citizen of my country are oh so polite, the quiet mob would bury her, that's like suicide creation, there ain't no freedom. Seriously, the gender equality take precedence over mental illness awareness. If a man with some job titles says anything, that goes. Imperialism lives to this day in this prison island.

So, I'm gone be blunt and honest as I can be. Who started to think about "trivializing" always started this "I'm right/you're wrong" moral fight, that's the measurement of human growth for me personally, I can test it, I'm a mean bastard.

Everyone thinks like "What you know 'bout me? What you know about!".

The wounds and pains that people kindly shares with us usually go way deeper. The lessons cannot be lectured, learning and understanding from anyone and from anywhere makes our world livable for others.

Psychiatry, head being stuck in an asshole, meaning their eyes cannot see the faces that went through pains if big tits were right in front of them.

I ain't fishin' for anything,,,, I'm a fool.

“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.”

― Søren Kierkegaard

This is just random, mostly for myself.

In a way, someone's trying to represent,,,,I gotta solve this riddle today, as you can see, I talk to myself a lot, being full of untruth.

The highest and most beautiful things in life are not to be heard about, nor read about, nor seen but, if one will, are to be lived.

― Soren Kierkegaard

“What labels me, negates me.”

I'm in love with this guy again. Lunatics signing out, we out!

ETA: I don't hafta say this ****, saying **** like "I can only hang with my kind.", that's not working hard enough, that's givin up. It's all the same as me. What's wrong with talking with myself? You won't believe how insane this is, it's like there are infinity behind your thoughts, smiling! Get your aura straight please. Have a nice weekend.

[pixiefey]

Originally Posted by RikerR5

Sorry if this doesn't go here, I can never find I good place for stuff like this.

I get really annoyed when people pretend or exaggerate to varying degrees some sort of mental illness.

Last (school)year I was in Tech 10. It was filled with just about all grade 9s, and there was one other girl. We weren't really friends, and she's kind of annoying, but we talked some because I had no one else to talk to. Near the end of the year she came into class one day and just told me she thought she had depression. Throughout that class she opened pages about depression and symptoms and she would say things like "I have all of these". That day she was acting really low (acting, quite obvious) and then when we went out of the classroom to go outside she would walk reeeaaaally slowly. And she would say "can you come with me, I shouldn't be alone in case I hurt myself". It was all really sudden and obviously not real, at least 100%. It doesn't happen in a day like that. And then the next class (two days later) she was completely fine. This was really annoying and I hate when people do stuff like this. She was straight up pretending/exaggerating.

Now I have this friend now who keeps talking about having social anxiety and stuff. She just talks about how she can't answer to teachers loudly, and how she was getting anxious when a teacher was going in order and was about to get to her. Now I think these might be and definitely can be "symptoms" of social anxiety, but it doesn't make it in and of itself. And yesterday we were waiting in the cafeteria with my other friends before volleyball tryouts and doing homework. I have Psychology and she and another friend have it in another block. We had a sheet that had an article about memory and memory lapses and their importance. There was a paragraph about things that can make your memory falter and we had a question where we had to list them (stress, depression, anxiety, fatigue, age). And she would say "all of these are me" or "I have four out of five of these" and stuff like that. (She also has a bit of iron deficiency/anemia but isn't really doing anything about it.) Whenever she says these things she laughs, and she doesn't say any of it really seriously. I understand that she might have some problems, but saying it like that and knowing her I'm pretty sure that it's not that bad at least.

And another thing with that same friend. My other friend wanted to use her laptop for something and accidentally changed the size of the icons on the desktop. Everyone's good friends and it's a stupid little thing so everyone's good-natured about it and laughing. But she also said "you have to change it back to how it was! You know I'm OCD about them!" Another thing that I really hate is when people say something like that and just trivialize those things for people who actually have a real problem. They diminish the real value of all of it. Similarly when people say "____ made me depressed" or "now I'm depressed". I know with "depressed" it can be a fine line because there's the illness but it's also how people use it to describe a mood, like pretty sad. But you can tell when people actually say it in the way it shouldn't be said. And in elementary school I had a great friend (and honestly a lot of people to different degrees) who would say things like "that's going to drive my OCD crazy" or she would fix something to be exact or aligned and say "sorry, I'm OCD about this stuff". And she would say how she's claustrophobic but she's totally fine in every situation I've seen her in. And I very much dislike when people say something made them have a panic attack, and it most definitely didn't. It might have made them freak out about something (totally trivial and unimportant) or maybe given them quite a bit of anxiety, but NOT A PANIC ATTACK. And people who say they have ADHD but don't and just say they get distracted a lot and can't focus when they just have bad work ethics.

A while ago my brother and I were talking to someone who we met (family work friend's nephew) and we were talking (mostly my brother and the other guy because I'm too shy) about how the situation was around here doing with homeless people, sketchiness, and gangs and such. My brother was saying how it's a safe place around here except for people who have schizophrenia and talk to themselves on the train and such. I can't explain it very well (because that's the way I am), but it was definitely in that way that is misconstrued and not understanding as well. Because I know that a lot of people with schizophrenia don't talk to themselves, and are great people that function pretty well. And there are other people who don't have schizophrenia who are like he was describing.

Stuff like this. It just gets to me. There are other things to do with my parents and me and my problems specifically, but this is stuff outside of that that I hate hearing. Does anybody else have strong thoughts about this or have any stories? I wish I could correct people (at least on smaller stuff) but I get too nervous or anxious and think about it too much. My friends don't know about my problems and I don't want to be someone who just corrects everything.

Sorry about the long-winded post and I'm sorry it's not very eloquent and might not make sense the whole time. I really wanted to get it out somewhere.

I recently told a friend of 6 months that I'm bipolar and she said she thought she was bipolar to because she couldnt sleep at night. She didn't have a clue . what is it about ppl wanting to claim mental illness when they find out someone else has it.

[Sad Eyes Sparkle 2]

Riker~I hear you and often feel exactly the same way (in fact, I mentioned it in my "I'm new here" intro!)

My "coming out" resulted in an exodus of said friends. I won't make that mistake again.

My psychiatrist had a good point when he said people don't know what to say when you drop a bomb like that... So they trivialize it, make a joke or just ignore it. None of those are good options- IMHO. I have not told a single person who understands... And that makes me so hesitant to continue to tell people.

thanks for sharing.

[Takeshi]

I feel sorry for you who misunderstood me but that's just the world we live in. I don't know, I'm just marinating at this point, I just wanna good repertoire of recipes in life, and I don't eat chicken. The spices, they were just on the rack, and,,,,I could be jerked more here but as I was showing, I'm trying to be a good cook, a chef of a master class. Cooking evenly, if a chicken is raw inside, or overcooked and rubbery, I'd just spit it out if I can't take the taste of it, I wouldn't be making a reality show out of it.

I'm full and I knows when to stop. Thanks for everyone who took the time to take a look at my posting.

ETA: I could eat more, I guess it's time for a snack, for the last time I assure you. I was thinking about 'pity', the hug I got was a pity that I don't need, are we learning 'self-pity' this way? The balls is always in your court.

I just had a very hurtful and ****** experience this weekend. I was at a large luncheon. My cousin nodded her head at me, covered the side of her mouth to block me and told several others I was crazy and laughed. The fact she was calling out to people at the other end of the table meant I heard everything.

[ninjasm]

That's an awful experience! How dare your cousin do that? How old is she? I hope young - that would be the only excuse for being so insensitive.

I noticed in the presidential debate that both candidates referred to each other with the "C-word:" Crazy. I hate the way that term is thrown about. As mentioned before by a few others - it is commonplace to use terms such as this as regular conversation - even names of the actual conditions, like OCD. I often fantasize about having conversations in response. I would LOVE to describe what my OCD feels like inside my head, how awful it is, and why it is a legitimate mental health diagnosis. My sister-in-law says it all the time, usually referencing how much she likes to keep her house tidy and kitchen clean. Once I asked her what would happen if the kitchen wasn't clean - her response with a confused look was "I would want to clean it."

But I'm trying to remind myself that, yes, ignorance is the issue - but the ignorance is a symptom of lack of education. As far as I know mental health isn't something covered in high school health class. How could we expect to be understood by people that are not mental health professionals or sufferers of the same condition? We can't. I think it's important to remember this.

However; stories where people are straight-up awful, like the cousin above aren't an issue of ignorance, it's an issue of being a rude and miserable person.

(thanks by the way)

Time and again I've heard people bandy about the terms 'bipolar' and 'OCD' in the same fashion as 'my roots are showing' (just as offensive). Worse still, there is usually a giggle accompanying the response. It is really offensive - even worse when people say it to me know of my illness. Do they realize they are trivializing the illnesses? Do they have some misguided sense that generalising it is supposed to make me think they are accepting of it/me?

Sad Eyes Sparkle 2 - I haven't told my friends anything. It's not their way of not knowing how to say something about, they just joke around about serious stuff that doesn't apply to them.

As for the word crazy, it's not something I mind so much because it's been used colloquially for much longer than everything else. And it can have multiple definitions. But that's how I see it.

Yesterday my friend (the one I keep talking about) was saying how she's totally bipolar with my other friends. She was saying how she changes from class to class or day to day in terms of how she feels, liking one and being happy then being really quiet and subdued because she dislike another. (Excuse me, everybody has different feelings about their classes!) I did actually end up saying to my friends that they need to stop saying stuff like this because that is not "bipolar". First they said she hasn't been diagnosed with anything but she could be. I asked how often she'd change, day to day, week to week? And then they said hour to hour. Then I just said that is NOT Bipolar Disorder. The whole thing wasn't super serious but I got my point across. At least for something. I know if I had been super pissed and angry then I would have gotten a different reaction. But I said it with one of those annoyed smiles (like when friends wont stop joking about something or doing something stupid) and we were all still having a regular conversation, not a super heavy one.
Then they went on to joke how she's not bipolar, but pregnant.

I'm glad I came across a good opportunity to say something, it often doesn't come at a good time to actually say something. I know my friends never mean it in a demeaning way, but it still needs to at least be reduced. Now I could probably say more when it comes up again and hopefully not be too awkward (or angry) about it.

[mugwort2]

Seems to me, for the most part MI is either feared or jeered and many times both. One thing I hate are armchair shrinks.

Once again, yesterday my friend said she was OCD about something. And I instead said she was particular about it. She said it makes her sad that she messed something small up. But she really doesn't have a problem with it, just like anyone else would.