New version
It is quite disturbing to see how many people are actually not agreeing with the importance of positivity. The reasons behind this are not truly known to me, so if it’s justified, I would not know. But to be honest, it does not truly matter either way. While this is an obviously weird response to something, it is the same in many other subjects, including talking about mental health.
I personally am not shy to talk about the subject of mental health. Eventually, I have a disorder myself; it is part of me, and that is that. Or so I hoped, until the internet showed me the opposite is true.
About a year ago, I wrote about having autism and tried to focus on the positive aspects instead of the negative ones. To my surprise, I received quite a few negative responses, mostly through the Twitter social media platform. Most of the messages revolved around one thing: according to these individuals, having autism and being positive could never be possible.
Not being shy to engage in a conversation, I asked why, and the answer I received was “Self-Mutilation.” It was claimed that no one with Autism could be happy because of that. This raised a frown, as I do not practice self-mutilation, and the reasons for that should be obvious to most. Yet, it was assumed that everyone with Autism engages in self-injury. However, a simple search on Google revealed that only about 30% of individuals with Autism practice self-injury.
This statistic surprised me, as the majority of self-injury cases among individuals with Autism are related to cutting. However, a significant portion also comes from “Head banging.” Curious about this, I contacted a psychologist and asked if head banging is truly a form of self-injury. The psychologist’s response was simple: “no.” Only a small percentage of individuals who head bang due to disorders actually injure themselves. It becomes problematic as people age, but according to the psychologist, the number of headbangers decreases as people get older.
This disheartened me because I noticed that valid problems related to mental health differences were made even more problematic, not by the “general society,” but by those with mental health differences themselves. It didn’t seem right, but unfortunately, it is not surprising. The fact is, the general society influences these ideas that get ingrained in people’s minds.
I personally experienced attacks from trolls on Twitter for nonsensical reasons, like being labeled a Zionist because I am Jewish. When individuals are attacked for simply being themselves, it is unreasonable to expect them to be positive. This type of negativity is not limited to politics but also extends to health-related discussions. People are attacked for focusing on unimportant aspects or even spreading plain lies. Conditions like Down syndrome, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are examples of how misinformation and misperceptions contribute to the problem.
Down syndrome is often associated by society with differences in appearance and a potential lower IQ, but it is important to note that these differences do not always manifest. Similarly, bipolar disorder is known for massive mood changes, yet important facts may be omitted in general knowledge. As for PTSD, it is commonly referred to as the “Veteran disorder,” although this is incorrect. PTSD can occur due to trauma and is not exclusive to veterans.
However, in discussions about health, not just mental health, what truly matters is how we interact with one another, not the differences themselves. While it is necessary to adapt to others, this is not limited to individuals with health differences. In life, things rarely go exactly as we want, and we must be willing to adjust ourselves instead of expecting others to do so.
The problem lies in the lack of acceptance within our society, which becomes more apparent when discussing mental health. We often expect others to conform to our desires while being unwilling to do the same ourselves. If we were to confront this issue directly, we would be capable of resolving almost every problem we face. This lack of acceptance extends beyond mental health to areas like politics, online trolls, discrimination, and the pursuit of fame and power.
Despite the potential for change, it is doubtful that it will happen. The points raised here emphasize our unwillingness to take action. We continue to focus on major issues like climate change, conflicts, and poverty, but without changing our approach, none of these problems will be resolved. We urge others to act while failing to do the same ourselves.
Conclusion: Promoting positivity and fostering acceptance are crucial in discussions on mental health. The lack of acceptance within society perpetuates misconceptions and hinders progress. By embracing differences and engaging in respectful dialogue, we can create a more inclusive and supportive environment for all. Let us prioritize the way we interact with one another and work towards a society that values acceptance and understanding.
Old version (Our Twisted Ways)
Positivity, it should be shared, right?
It is quite disturbing to see how many people are actually not agreeing with this.
The reason behind this is not truly known to me, so if it’s justified I would not know, but to be honest, it does not truly matter either way.
While this is an obvious weird response to something, it is just the same at many other subjects, including talking about mental health.
I personally am not shy to talk about the subject of mental health, eventually, I have a disorder myself, it is part of me, and that is that..
Or so I hoped, as the internet has immediately show the opposite is true.
About a year ago I wrote about having autism while trying to focus on the positive parts, instead of the negative parts.
Soon after I got quite some responses through the Twitter social media platform, to my own surprise, mostly negative…
Most messages were about 1 thing, which was that according to people having autism and being positive could never be possible.
Not being shy of a conversation, I asked why, which gave me the answer of “Self-Mutilation”, with the added note that no one with Autism could be happy because of that.
It raised a frown at me, as I do not practice self-mutilation, reasons should be obvious to most, yet it was claimed that everyone with Autism does that.
A simple turn to Google showed actually that only about 30% of those with Autism practice ways of self-injury.
Basically 1/3 of those with Autism, and that are just statistics, but instantly it was assumed by someone else with Autism that it was the same for everyone with Autism.
Yet, the number of 30% hasn’t surprised me, as in terms of self-injury the majority comes from cutting, but also quite a major part comes from “Head banging”…
Noticing this, I did something which seemed obvious to me, I contacted a psychologist and asked the obvious “Is head banging truly a form of self-injury?”
The answer I got was quite simple, which is a “no”, as only a quite tiny percentage of those who head bang because of disorders injure themselves by doing so, it only gets problematic when age progresses, yet according to the psychologist I talked to, the number of headbangers actually decrease as people get older..
I got disheartened, as what I saw was that the valid problems behind mental health differences were made even more problematic, but not by the “general society”, but rather by those with mental health differences themselves.
It didn’t seem right, but also actually ain’t right, it is not how things should be, but at the same time not surprising, as the fact behind everything is, is that the general society push these ideas into people’s minds.
This was noticed by myself when I got attacked several times by trolls at the Twitter social media, attacked for the most nonsensical reasoning, like me apparently being instantly a Zionist because I am Jewish..
You basically shouldn’t expect people to be able to be positive when they are attacked over being themselves, and basically nothing more, and while this is mostly happening around politics, health is a subject many are attacked over just as well, mostly because of focusing on unimportant parts, or even just plain lies.
Down syndrome, bipolar, and post traumatic stress disorder are amazing examples to show what I mean.
Down syndrome is mostly associated by the general society with the differences in appearance that can occur, with a needed emphasis on the word “can”, not will.
Also most are aware of the lower IQ that generally happens with down syndrome, and the difficulties to speech are known as well generally.
Bipolar is quite commonly known that it is about massive mood changes.
And PTSD… Well, it is commonly known as the “Veteran disorder”, even though this is 100% incorrect, as the reason why it happens so much as veterans is trauma, something that is basically forced upon soldiers, though able to happen to truly anyone…
The 3 possible ways of seeing things, with bipolar being quite correct, yet missing important facts that are not said, down syndrome being also only partially correct with things that could happen taken as something that always will happen, and at PTSD incorrect information, as yes, it does happen at veterans, but the connection between PTSD and veterans is not truly there, it is PTSD and trauma instead…
Yet, while saying this, it is important to know.. that none of the above explaining is of any importance!
The thing about discussions surrounding health, not just mental health, is that the importance is how you interact, not what the differences are at the other person.
And yes, you need to adapt to ways of others, but it is not like you would not need to do the same with anyone without any difference in health.
Never in life things will go exactly how you want if you don’t adjust yourself at times, instead of expecting others to do so.
The problem behind our society, which becomes more obvious when we get into the discussion of mental health, is the lack of acceptance.
We are always expecting others to be the way we want, while at the same time being unable to do the same ourselves.
Our whole lives we move around this, as we see at the fights when it comes to politics, the quite huge amount of trolls online, the discrimination about almost everything, and the need for fame and power.
Even though if we would face it head-on, we would be able to resolve basically every single problem we have.
In this case the focus is mental health, but I also shared it about politics with the fact of politics being problematic as it is seen as something special, instead of normal jobs and needing the expertised people, instead of chosen people.
Sadly however, I doubt change will happen, as that is just the point which everything I just spoke out makes clear, we are just not willing to do so.
We can keep on focusing on the major issues, like climate change, conflicts, poverty, but none of those will ever be resolved in our current way of doing things, as we call others do something, but doing so ourselves…
