Ableism and mental health
I wrote this back in 2022.
Image description: Black background with writing in white and yellow font that reads in all caps: “No, it is not my identity. No I can’t just “get over it”. Recovery takes times!” Below left is a round profile picture with someone in a light colored hoodie with their hands covering their face. The name of the social media page is next to the profile picture and reads: “Dancing Through Fire”.
*Content warning* ableism, ableist language, mention of war and genocide, mention of child abuse
Learning about ableism around mental illness is a very important part of the movement.
It’s so easy to label someone “crazy”, “insane”, “deranged”, etc., when we don’t like them or something they did, but these words (other than being essentially meaningless) actually make it harder for people with real mental health disabilities get help. It stigmatizes them and isolates them, even though they didn’t cause your problem.
Even casual use of the word “crazy” normalizes the idea that we can use the topic of mental health as a punching bag.
Trump is not officially diagnosed with any mental health disorders. So please stop saying he is a “crazy”, “mentally ill”, “narcissistic”, “psychotic”, “psychopath” with varying “personality disorders”. His behaviors are destructive, and cruel, and evil, but there are plenty of other people in government helping him do those things and you’re not calling them any of those names. There are plenty of mentally ill people who are not causing war, caging kids, or supporting genocide and imperialism. In fact, people with mental health disabilities are more likely to be the victims of crimes than the perpetrators.
The evidence is clear that people with mental health disorders most likely have those disorders because of trauma they have experienced in an unjust system. Trauma leads to mental health crises. Then they get stigmatized for having mental health disorders, which leads to even more trauma and lack of access to care and treatment.
It’s not the mental ill who have caused poverty, famine, war, and climate chaos. It’s capitalism, colonialism, racism, and patriarchy. Even if a CEO were diagnosed with an anti-social personality disorder, that doesn’t invalidate their personal responsibility for their actions so why make the story about their mental disorder?
Let’s stop using stigmatizing words. If we de-stigmatize mental health, we could create effective support and treatment for people with mental health disorders. This can in turn lead to a great deal of harm reduction and prevention.
This is what I’ve learned from my friends who have mental health disabilities.
Please don’t let your hatred of Trump cause you to harm people with mental disabilities. Please be mindful of how your words stigmatize others. This is really important.
PS: If you’re feeling upset about this post, and angry with me for making such a big deal out of just a few words, yeah, that’s because you’re ableist. I’m ableist too. That’s why we have talk about this stuff, so we don’t continue the cycle.
I recommend this Facebook page as one where you can learn more from people with mental health disabilities about how you can help them. https://www.facebook.com/dancingthroughfire/