[A18793715]

Do you think people with severe mental illness know a lot more about all mental illnesses, medications, side effects, insurance, laws, etc since that's our lives? Compared to people without severe mental illnesses. I've been wondering because I feel like I know more about those topics than the average person.

Does anyone else feel the same way?

[Door2015]

I think that is true, because once you have to live something, you're more likely to be exposed to a wealth of information, that you otherwise might not even have realized exists.

[Sometimes psychotic]

Yeah I don't think its on most people's radar.....

I wanted philosophy of mind to be my niche in philosophy. My minor was psychology and I've taken everything from cognitive neuroscience classes to history and systems of psychology and always wondered what a mental illness was actually like.

You can describe something but to actually have it is another type of knowledge. You can describe a color by it's physical wavelength but to actually see the color red is another type of knowledge too.

It was weird going through abnormal psychology, learning about schizophrenia while I was in full blown psychosis...

[newtus]

Originally Posted by 0dysseus

It was weird going through abnormal psychology, learning about schizophrenia while I was in full blown psychosis...

I was in full blown psychosis taking an intro to psychology course a few years ago. I couldnt finish the class. After about a month I dropped out because it was very triggering. I ended up in hospital a lot that year. the psychology class only made me feel worse. ever since ive been in college ive vowed to avoid any sort of psychology courses i could. if i didnt have to take one i chose some other class. even if it was harder.

[newtus]

i believe they do. not only is it their lives - but when you have someone (like me for example) that is in hospital a lot you need to understand what your putting into your body as far as medications go. at some point soon the side effects will take over so much - so you learn about them. also you need to know your legal and civil rights being treated at hospitals and clinics - what you are allowed and how you are supposed to be treated because sooner or later you find that hospitals usually (more than most) wont treat you well. they wont treat you like a person but as a case study or just a patient or a number in a filing drawer. many staff will also trick you and can lie to you about your rights so you will comply. even if your a threat or not. ive seen this happen time and time again. its common.

[neil w]

Originally Posted by 0dysseus

It was weird going through abnormal psychology, learning about schizophrenia while I was in full blown psychosis...

Ody I did virtually the same thing! Spent a year and a half as a psych major thinking i had depression but in reality was full blown sz just with no insight.

[A18793715]

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I thought I was having gradious delusions about feeling smarter than the average person about mental illness.

What would you guys classify as full blown psyhosis? I hear voices 24/7.

[newtus]

i think full blown psychosis would be voices and paranoia 24/7. disorganization doesnt have to be present in full blown psychosis but if your paranoid and hearing voices all the time youll most likely become confused and mumble and disorganize your words. because you cant focus on anything and you cant hear your own voice through the voices.

for example. i have psychosis going on right now but its not too bad. i have paranoia 24/7 but only been having voices every once and awhile right now. when i get voices i know im getting bad. if i dont do anything about it then i will end up in hospital and get disorganized and completely lose insight. most likely end up in police custody again.

[likewater]

I definitely believe people with mental illness know more than people without. People without call someone who is capricious schizophrenic for not making up their minds when they are really joking that the person has Dissociative Identity Disorder. So it's annoying to me on two levels: they don't know what schizophrenia is. They don't know the correct term for someone wwho has multiple personalities and mental illness isn't something to joke or be flippant about. The same when idiots say the weather is bipolar. I guess I'm cranky and intolerant of some ignorant people. I feel like making little pamphlets of things not to say to me.

Also, we have to be our own advocates. Our drs don't experience side effects-we do. They don't know what goes on in our minds and bodies- we do. We have to make them hear us so we get the best possible treatment and quality of life. Then we can be there for others and accomplish our goals.

I also think we have a unique way of viewing the world. We lose all the superficial garbage because we can't afford it. I personally find mentally ill people refreshing bc they are usually quite honest. I feel a kinship and affinity and an empathy with people who are mentally ill. I kind of think of it more as mentally DIFFERENT rather than ill. I believe my brain works differently. I don't think of myself as ill.

[Atypical_Disaster]

Originally Posted by A18793715

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I thought I was having gradious delusions about feeling smarter than the average person about mental illness.

What would you guys classify as full blown psyhosis? I hear voices 24/7.

Yeah you're not the onlya one. I think people with mental isllness just obvjectively hav more experience than people without MI so we end up knowig more about how "the system" and such works. Like more applied kmnowledlge.

Full blown psychosis, good question I frankly don't know. Aoccroding to my psychiatrist I'm constantly full blown psychoatic. But some times are defo worse than other times. I think it really depends on the invdivaeual person, you knmow?

Like for me I know things are bad when my voices start telling me to do bad things, ie kill myself, other people, etc. Also whwen I start going catatonic more often in spite of the mdeds, when my "delusions" take over every thought of every day, or when my disoreganization gets to the poitn of just being totally nonfunctional and unabelk to care for mysel atf atll. But I don't know if it's gotten that bad unelss someone tell s me beacuse I have v ery limitd insight, like I only7 got insight back in 2013 after yeras of being sick and my insight comes and goes. Like I don't know when I'm not making sense unless someone point is out, I don't know I'm in danger unless someone poitns out my odd behavior, etc./..

OMG the level of over share I'm doing today is ridiculous, sorry about all the schizo rambling...

[RedEagle]

People with mental illnesses probably take it a lot more seriously since they deal with it on a day-to-day basis and know how debilitating it can be. I don't think mental illness is on most people's radar at all.

You hear words like anxiety and depression but until you actually experience it you have no inkling what they really mean.

[medicalfox]

Yes. People with severe mental illnesses that seek treatment and education on such subject tend to know more about mental illnesses than healthy individuals. I find that most of my friends/people I know who are healthy without illnesses do not have knowledge about mental illnesses and usually tend to not care about it enough to research it. I also found they tend to be bias about mental illnesses which perpetuates stigma.