Me too. I've read various articles and other exhortations from that crowd, urging "mad" people to embrace our conditions, celebrate them, enjoy them, consider them unique qualities to be proud of, etc. And all I could think was that whatever sorts of mental illness the authors had, it probably wasn't depression, any kind of anxiety disorder, or anything else that's seriously non-enjoyable. It's hard to be happy and proud about finding life intolerable and regularly wanting to die, you know?
There certainly are some forms of mental "difference" that come with features as well as bugs. ADHD, for sure, and I've heard people say the same about at least some forms of autism. And I will freely admit to enjoying the hell out of hypomania and wishing I could order it up on demand. But not every mental illness/difference/condition is like that, and to suggest that they're all things people should enjoy and be proud of having is a gross overgeneralization, and really disrespectful to people who are struggling with conditions that make their lives hell.
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Date: 2012-06-25 07:07 pm (UTC)There certainly are some forms of mental "difference" that come with features as well as bugs. ADHD, for sure, and I've heard people say the same about at least some forms of autism. And I will freely admit to enjoying the hell out of hypomania and wishing I could order it up on demand. But not every mental illness/difference/condition is like that, and to suggest that they're all things people should enjoy and be proud of having is a gross overgeneralization, and really disrespectful to people who are struggling with conditions that make their lives hell.