mental illness

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Mental Illness, an existence defined by potential futures and progress

Warning: This blog contains around 1250 words. It could very well be an article in a journal.

In the previous part, I discussed that mental health is constructed by both individuals and society.

Then, what makes a certain state of mental health undesirable? What power is there in claiming a weakened state? Finally, what makes a “normal life”?

In order to understand these questions, it would be important to state the concept of “future”. It is, according to Wikipedia , what will happen in the time after the present, an inevitable event. I will add onto that definition, that future is also a nebulous concept that has not yet been determined. This has political power, in that one can create a variety of potential realities that could come into being as a result of [event].

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The Dark Side of Hyper-Visibility
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The Dark Side of Hyper-Visibility

Having been around various forms of sex work I have become quite used to cosmetic surgery. I spent a lot of time drawing parallels while reading Susan Stryker’s “Frankenstein” piece. I think about the times in which we allow ‘unnatural’ bodies to coexist peacefully and when we view them as threats. Continue reading →

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Mental disorder, where mind, body, and society meet and create identities

Thinking about mental health, part 1:

I begin this post with a question: How can we tell if someone has a mental disorder? According to the National Alliance for Mental Health, “a mental illness is a disease that causes mild to severe disturbances in thought and/or behavior, resulting in an inability to cope with life’s ordinary demands and routines.” According to Wikipedia, it is “is a diagnosis, most often by a psychiatrist, of a behavioral or mental pattern that may cause suffering or a poor ability to function in life.”

What’s most interesting to me is that there are two parts to the definition- “A disturbance in mental thought/pattern”, and “Affects the individuals’ ability to function in life.” Taken at face values, these make perfect sense, if someone has abnormal mental thoughts and it makes them unable to function normally, then they have a mental disorder. Now, what are we comparing “abnormal” to? The “normal” identity, which has been crafted by society.

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Anxiety: A Common Body Story

I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder, which means my brain doesn’t know when to stress out about something and when not to. Two of my closest friends also have anxiety, and in a weird way I think it’s made us closer. The stress from our anxiety affects our minds and our bodies. Continue reading →

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Mental Illness and Everyone Around

mental-health-disorders            One of the topics that struck me the most in class the last few weeks was when we talked about mental illness and the people whose loved ones have mental illness. When people talk about mental illness, whether it be their own or just as a general topic, it’s hardly mentioned how other people are affected by someone’s mental illness. Yes the focus should be on the person who it working through this ordeal but it can also affect the others around. Continue reading →

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I Know You Told Me I’m Healthy, But I Really Think You Should Check One More Time

TW: death, sudden death, mental illness
My body freaks me out. I’ve never really understood how to embody it properly, to feel right in it. I guess there is no wrong way to embody your body, but I have always felt confused and afraid of my own. There’s so much about it that I can’t know—so much that is left automatic, and so much that could go wrong—and that inability to really, confidently know if I am safe in my body has literally driven me crazy at points in my life.

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