Some people seem to blame the person for acquiring mental disrders. They say that you are just weak minded?

Question

if you have them or you dont know how to controla a situatiion, you always like to cry and all. That the person himself is to be blamed. But i have seen most pf the people having these disorders have been through trauma, abuse and ignorance through their lives. Isnt it true that situations can cause you these disorders. i think that no one in this world would want to be unhappy by themselves cause we try very hard to be happy. Just like a person can become handicapped by a physical accident, cant a person develop some mental disorder after a trauma or abuse. is the person himself is to be blamed. I believe sometimes even chemical imbalance is the cause. What do you think?

Answer 1

I agree with you 100%. Mental illnesses are probably the most misunderstood illnesses in all of medicine. I believe you are correct that people blame the person who has the disorder for not being "strong" enough to "power" through it or overcome it. That is is somehow a matter of sheer will that will make it go away.

You are also correct that many mental illnesses are a function of chemical imbalances in the brain and are, therefore, well treated with medications to help counteract the imbalance. Even in the absence of a chemical imbalance or other biologically known causes, however, the illness itself is no less a real illness simply because it is of the mind instead of solely of the body. We would never tell a person with cancer to simply "get over it" and be better, but for some reason it seems ok to say that to a person with depression. It stems from ignorance of the nature of mental illnesses in general and, I believe, from the position that we are fearful of mental illnesses because people suffering from them sometimes act different from the rest of us. It's a shame, really, because adding the stigma to the illness gets in the way of the person receiving the help they need to get better.

Answer 2

Mental disorders can be a result of events that have happen to the individual a chemical imbalance or simply a defect in the persons genetics.

So with that in mind, usually people who have mental breakdowns or have been in extreme stress will develop a mental handicap. Is it there fault? Yes and no, yes everything that led up to that point was a choice mixed with there environment, and if a person is mentally strong enough then yes they can with stand outside environments. The catch is though, unless a person has had a life mixed with the proper chemical balance, genetics, and a mentally reassuring life when they are young, they will not develop that mental strength and even if they do have that type of life they still might break, is it there fault yes; are they to be blamed, no.

There is always help and hope, medicine and meditation among other methods have shown to help and on occasion totally subdue the illness.

The brain is a complex organ and everyone is different.

Answer 3

I actually deal with what you are talking about. I was diagnosed with bi polar disorder when I was very young. So many people would try to preach to me telling me it was in my head that I could fix it. Also religious people tried to convince me that if I prayed hard enough god would help me through it. For a little while I did believe it was in my head and a lot of problems happened in my life because I wouldn't take my medication. Now that I am older I know so much more. Some people are born with chemical imbalances in there brains that do affect daily life. It does not mean that they are insane or incapable of living a normal life. It's just that in most cases like with me medication makes life a little less crazy. I really wish more people were correctly informed on this so they would judge less.

Answer 4

To blame a person with a mental disorder for their disorder would be the same as blaming a person with cancer or some other illness for their disorder. People think that mental problems are different from others, but they are all physical / physiological - they all affect physical parts of the body. Mental disorders affect the brain and nervous system.

Answer 5

Some people are idiots that's what I think. Serious mental illness such as bipolar, major depression, schizophrenia are clear serious medical conditions no different than diabetes or high blood pressure. Many other mental illness are due in large part to serious biochemical brain defects too. However, people even mentally ill people do bare at least some responsibility for their behavior and treatment. There are people who use mental illness for an excuse for poor or selfish behavior.