Lullabelle
Midlands, England
That’s very true, and it’s so frustrating!
I have a good handful of anxiety disorder male relatives, a couple bipolar ones, and one that has a severe social disorder, like borderline personality disorder or something like that; also a smattering of depression.
IOW, somewhat typical these days, if you look close enough.
Anyway, I was on another forum a while back (a very close-knit one like here), and someone related that their adult child had killed himself after years of depression.
Someone else on the forum came back with the opinion that depression and anxiety are recent conditions, mainly brought about by the internet, and what her son should have done was just get a dog, because raising a dog requires you to think of something other than yourself.
There’s so much wrong with that, it beggars belief, but that’s how too many people feel about it, like it’s a character flaw or just a lack of willpower.
The problem was, though…he wasn’t trying to be a jerk, he thought he was being helpful.
It is difficult to explain mental health issues to anyone who has never experienced anything themselves, there does still seem to be a culture of 'get over yourself' which is not at all helpful.