Cruelty and cringing

I know so many people want to keep mental illness hidden.  I get it.  People are cruel, and it'd be a miracle if we were able to eradicate derogatory terms such as 'crazy bipolar bitch,' 'mental case,' 'schizo,' all of which are rather mild compared to other racial and social derogatory terms still in existence.  I like to take a lighter approach to it all when things get too heavy and dance my ass off when all my favorite mental Ramones songs hit my airwaves.  My favorites include, in no particular order: Teenage Lobotomy, I Wanna Be Sedated, Psychotherapy, Go Mental, Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment, and many more.

Still, if you scour the badlands of the internet, where anonymous fools bash and bitch and moan, the arguments usually end up in a fight against which participant is crazier than the other.  Often there are such phrases as, 'You Forgot To Take Your Meds,' 'You Need A Strait Jacket,' 'You Need To Take A Break...In The Psych Ward,' or the worst, 'Why Don't You Just Kill Yourself Already,' ....all being thrown back and forth while neglecting the fact that they are compulsively participating in the same behavior over and over and over and over again.  People do strange things anonymously.  

So there are people who cringe at others for talking openly about their own mental health issues.  For whatever reasons, it makes people uncomfortable.  I've known many people who ran from a mental health diagnosis, and never want to hear anything ever again about those Nurse Ratchets and experiences again.  That's great if they can swing it, and they can continue on their lives not harming or hurting others by their behavior.  But I am not one of those people.  I will rebel against a doctor or treatment who treats me poorly and doesn't respect me, but I will always comply when I feel encouragement, kindness and professionalism.

It can get to be very heavy stuff, so I try to inject humor when I'm able.  There is so much cruelty and lack of compassion surrounding mental illness that laughter, as they say, can be an amazing medicine.