The tweet about these people not respecting mental illnesses that have symptoms they can’t romanticize is so damn important.
The term “mental illness” has a lot of stigma, and what they’re saying perfectly exemplifies the disparity between two kinds of reactions to mental illness: disgust or sympathy.
Depending on the nature of your mental illness, people are either gonna hate you, or they’re gonna feel sorry for you, or at least pretend to feel sorry for you. This is why so many people, for instance, use “Being trans is a mental illness” as an excuse to be transphobic instead of offering genuine solutions for distressed trans people.
The tweet about these people not respecting mental illnesses that have symptoms they can’t romanticize is so damn important.
The term “mental illness” has a lot of stigma, and what they’re saying perfectly exemplifies the disparity between two kinds of reactions to mental illness: disgust or sympathy.
Depending on the nature of your mental illness, people are either gonna hate you, or they’re gonna feel sorry for you, or at least pretend to feel sorry for you. This is why so many people, for instance, use “Being trans is a mental illness” as an excuse to be transphobic instead of offering genuine solutions for distressed trans people.