8 Big Myths About People With Mental Disorders

Mental disorders are a phenomenon that remains deeply stigmatized, partly due to lack of knowledge. Under this label of "mental disorders", many people group all kinds of confusing and sometimes aberrational concepts that, in practice, only serve to exclude.

• You may be interested in: "8 great myths about modern psychology"

Myths about people with mental disorders that you should reject

Many times the idea of ​​mental disorder has come to be used simply as an adjective that speaks evil of the person and gives reason to fear it, it is worth having a little more information about it. Below you will find several myths about people with mental disorders.

1. They are irrecoverable cases and can only stagnate or worsen

It is true that the fact of having developed a mental disorder is something that is difficult to forget, but that does not mean that your symptoms cannot subside until they almost disappear. This, of course, varies greatly depending on the problem that is presented in each case, but it is necessary to keep in mind that there is no category with clear limits that delimits what it is to have a disorder or not have it.

For example, symptoms do not have to go away completely to recover, in the same way that there are many people who, due to their way of life, do not have problems due to fear when getting on a plane.

2. They do not understand what they are told

Presenting a mental disorder does not imply that there is also intellectual disability. Most of these types of patients are perfectly capable of understanding any explanation and even pretending not to have any emotional or cognitive problems in the course of a conversation.It is convenient not to treat these people with condescension and paternalism, which in practice are insulting.

• Related article: "Intellectual and developmental disability"

3. They lose touch with reality

The belief that "madness" consists of cutting off all contact with reality is nothing more than an excuse to stigmatize people with mental disorders, a way to remove them from public life and to ensure that their interests cannot turn society in favor of more inclusive values.

In the same way that for centuries homosexuality was marginalized because it had the power to criminalize behaviors that clashed with the nuclear family model, today there is talk about the supposed lack of criteria of these minorities to deprive them of many rights (in favor of the rest of the people).

Of course, there is no rational reason why people with disorders could be grouped together. under the label "insanity" and are attributed the inability to defend their own interests anywhere and anytime.

4. They are hooked on medication

On the one hand, it is absolutely false that the fact of presenting a mental disorder implies generating a dependency relationship with a psychoactive drug. Many people choose not to take medication, or their disorder is of such low intensity that the use of these substances to treat it is not even considered.

Also, even if a person becomes addicted to a drug, this does not make them acquire a lower moral rank. Many times this dependency link appears relatively quickly and in situations of great difficulty and a lot of pressure. Partly, drugs are a response to the need to create people who adapt to a society that she is not willing to change too much for them.

• Related article: "Psychoactive drugs: drugs that act on the brain"

5. they are violent people

Although people with mental disorders have extra reasons to experience anxiety, that does not mean that they channel this discomfort by directing it against others. In fact, in many cases their tendency is to isolate themselves so as not to cause discomfort to your friends and family.

6. Mental disorders are an emotional problem

This is one of the classic interpretations of a current of "alternative therapies" that consider that diseases and disorders arise from unresolved emotional conflicts. Not only is it totally false, but it is also an extremely harmful idea, capable of causing great pain to patients and their families, or can even lead to death.

The reason is that they hold the individual responsible for what happens to them, which in practice means that if there is no improvement the situation is seen as something the patient is guilty of, for not wanting to face those internal problems.

7. They can cure their disorders by talking about them

Simply receiving information or putting what you feel into words does not imply recovery. Mental disorders are beyond language, and although modifying beliefs helps, recovery comes through other ways, such as by adopting different habits, techniques that are applied at home, etc.

Thus, advice is not an option, because disorders are not born from a lack of information or from a lack of rationality. Smokers continue to smoke cigarettes even though they know full well that it is harmful, and the same is true of mental disorders. Even in spite of recognizing those actions and thoughts that are not appropriate, they manifest themselves, since there is no control over them at the time the symptoms appear.

• You may be interested in: "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: what is it and what principles is it based on?"

8. Part of the symptoms of mental disorders are calls for attention

Some believe that people with mental disorders enjoy making this a part of their identity in front of others, as if they talk about this kind of problem for the pleasure of feeling the attention of the rest Or, perhaps, your admiration. However, this is a clearly solipsistic conception of what it is to experience a disorder.

In the same way that a bad experience at work makes us talk about it, mental disorders, whose symptoms can become more painful and frequent than a scolding from the boss, they naturally make you want to talk about it in occasions.