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 aberrant concepts that, in practice, only serve to exclude.

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 ill of the person and gives reason to fear it, it is worth having some more information about it. Below you will find several myths about people with mental disorders .

1. are irrecoverable cases and can only stagnate or get worse

It’s true that having developed a mental disorder is hard to forget, but that doesn’t mean your symptoms can’t go away until they’re almost gone. This, of course, varies greatly depending on the problem at hand, but keep in mind that there is no clear-cut category that defines what it is to have a disorder or not to have one.

For example, it is not necessary for the symptoms to disappear completely in order to recover , in the same way that there are many people who, because of their way of life, have no problem with fear of getting on a plane.

2. do not understand what they are told

Having a mental disorder does not imply that there is also an intellectual disability. Most such patients are perfectly capable of understanding any explanation and even of appearing to have no emotional or cognitive problems in the course of a conversation. These people should not be treated with condescension and paternalism , which in practice are insulting.

3. They lose touch with reality

The belief that “madness” consists in cutting off all contact with reality is nothing more than an excuse to stigmatize people with mental disorders, a way of keeping them out of public life and to favour that their interests cannot turn society in favour of more inclusive values.

In the same way that for centuries homosexuality was marginalized because it had the power to criminalize conduct that clashed with the nuclear family model, today there is talk of the alleged 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 can be grouped together under the label “insanity” and attributed the inability to defend their own interests anywhere and at any time.

4. Are hooked on medication

On the one hand, it is absolutely false that presenting a mental disorder means generating a relationship of dependence with a psychoactive drug. Many people decide not to take medication , or their disorder is of such low intensity that they do not even consider using these substances to treat it.

Furthermore, even if a person develops an addiction to a drug, this does not make him or her morally inferior. Many times this link of dependence appears relatively quickly and in situations of great difficulty and a lot of pressure. In part, drugs are a response to the need to create people who adapt to a society that is not willing to change too much for them.

5. They are violent people

Although people with mental disorders have extra reasons to experience anxiety, that doesn’t mean 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 their 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 this totally false, but it is also an extremely harmful idea, capable of causing great pain to patients and families, or even leading to death.

The reason is that they hold the individual responsible for what happens to him, 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

Just receiving information or putting your feelings into words doesn’t mean you’ll recover. Mental disorders are beyond language , and although modifying beliefs helps, recovery comes through other ways, such as adopting different habits, techniques that are applied at home, etc.

Thus, advice is not an option, because disorders are not born from lack of information or lack of rationality. Smokers continue to use cigarettes even though they know full well that this is harmful, and the same goes for mental disorders. Even though they recognize those actions and thoughts that are not appropriate, they manifest themselves, since they have no control over them at the time the symptoms manifest themselves .

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

Some people believe that people with mental disorders enjoy making this a part of their identity in front of others, as if they talk about these kinds of problems for the sake of feeling the attention of others or, perhaps, their 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 be more painful and frequent than an argument from the boss, naturally make people want to talk about it sometimes.