How has mental illness affected your life?

To be honest, you can call it what the **** you want. It doesn't subtract from the fact that there are people going through extreme distress because of their experiences, and that those individuals should be offered help, as this thread nothing but demonstrates.

I'm not saying that people don't suffer from problems, but calling this an illness is just a lie and in my opinion doesn't help people change there behaviour

What would you call it?

It's not a illness, and having previously experienced what you would class as depression and anxiety, it does absolutely nothing to help it by saying it is. Sure people might want help with there behaviour if they think it's problematic, but that is not an illness.

I've suffered from pretty severe OCD for five years now; it crushed myself confidence and made me a pretty messed up individual.

Only now am I kind of coming to terms with the fact that I really do need help (taken long enough)..and I'm so tired of having to pretend everything's okay- I daren't moan about it incase I annoy people.

My parents still don't know but I hate to admit I can't help but feel ashamed and embarassed even though I know I shouldn't.

Anyway, I'm interested in how people handle it whether it's yourself or someone you know.

I think that there should be more of an emphasis on recognising mental illnesses because in my experience nobody really talks about them because they're kind of invisible if you get what I mean and my parents have often just labelled me as a 'hormonal' teenager :/

Doesn't answer the question though.

Actually, if you're interested in this kind of thing, a psychiatrist called Jan Foundraine wrote a book about his attempts to redefine mental illness under a different semantic system, including his role as a psychiatrist. Essentially he turned his part of a psychiatric hospital into a school and took up the role of an educator. The book documents the subsequent impact of medicalizing this issue. The book is called Not Made of Wood if youre interested.

It's not a illness, and having previously experienced what you would class as depression and anxiety, it does absolutely nothing to help it by saying it is. Sure people might want help with there behaviour if they think it's problematic, but that is not an illness.

I don't have an answer as to what to call it tbh, and that looks really interesting, is the book online anywhere?

I don't have an answer as to what to call it tbh, and that looks really interesting, is the book online anywhere?

I've suffered from pretty severe OCD for five years now; it crushed myself confidence and made me a pretty messed up individual.

Only now am I kind of coming to terms with the fact that I really do need help (taken long enough)..and I'm so tired of having to pretend everything's okay- I daren't moan about it incase I annoy people.

My parents still don't know but I hate to admit I can't help but feel ashamed and embarassed even though I know I shouldn't.

Anyway, I'm interested in how people handle it whether it's yourself or someone you know.

I think that there should be more of an emphasis on recognising mental illnesses because in my experience nobody really talks about them because they're kind of invisible if you get what I mean and my parents have often just labelled me as a 'hormonal' teenager :/

Quick question

I haven't been to my GP in over a year about my mental health (depression and self harm as a result) and I'm wanting to join the army next year. How realistic is this? Please don't give any opinion on my situation, I just want to know if my dream is possible.

Probably not. I looked into joining the army, they told me no chance with my history of depression and self harm.

It may depend how long you've been depressed, how much you self harmed, how long you been free etc, no one here can answer on your exact circumstances so why not go have a chat in your local recruiting office?