Hi All,
So, awhile ago I was in a debate with someone somewhere (I don't remember) about who we should be taking mental health and life advice from. They were claiming that it was ridiculous for someone with mental illness or other issues to give advice to someone with the same problems (mental illness, etc), because they hadn't succeeded in life. It would only be acceptable for a successful, mentally and physically healthy person to 'help' the mentally ill or impoverished or whatever.
I disagreed. There's a few problems I have with this. It presumes that the mentally ill & impoverished have complete control over their circumstances and illness. It presumes that depression, BPD, etc is not an illness, but something you can overcome if you adopt the right successful attitude.
But it also presumes our only obstacle is failure and our only desire is success. I recognize these as major contributors to a depressive mindset, but ideas of success and failure are usually based on social standards that are normally unobtainable which cause people to feel stuck. This is just one example of how depression is more complex.
Personally, I have never felt comfortable receiving advice from someone who had no idea what it was like to feel depressed or anxious or moody. How do they know how to overcome something they've never had to overcome? They tend to push their ideas on you with no real substance. For example, when I got sick & had trouble doing the activities I used to love doing, my sister said to me "well this person with fibro runs everyday, why cant you?"
So my question is, who do you think we should listen to? Being that this is a peer support site, it seems obvious where people will lean, but do you think we can learn from those who haven't suffered from a mental illness? Do you want to? Sometimes, we just want someone who understands and listens.
So, awhile ago I was in a debate with someone somewhere (I don't remember) about who we should be taking mental health and life advice from. They were claiming that it was ridiculous for someone with mental illness or other issues to give advice to someone with the same problems (mental illness, etc), because they hadn't succeeded in life. It would only be acceptable for a successful, mentally and physically healthy person to 'help' the mentally ill or impoverished or whatever.
I disagreed. There's a few problems I have with this. It presumes that the mentally ill & impoverished have complete control over their circumstances and illness. It presumes that depression, BPD, etc is not an illness, but something you can overcome if you adopt the right successful attitude.
But it also presumes our only obstacle is failure and our only desire is success. I recognize these as major contributors to a depressive mindset, but ideas of success and failure are usually based on social standards that are normally unobtainable which cause people to feel stuck. This is just one example of how depression is more complex.
Personally, I have never felt comfortable receiving advice from someone who had no idea what it was like to feel depressed or anxious or moody. How do they know how to overcome something they've never had to overcome? They tend to push their ideas on you with no real substance. For example, when I got sick & had trouble doing the activities I used to love doing, my sister said to me "well this person with fibro runs everyday, why cant you?"
So my question is, who do you think we should listen to? Being that this is a peer support site, it seems obvious where people will lean, but do you think we can learn from those who haven't suffered from a mental illness? Do you want to? Sometimes, we just want someone who understands and listens.