some recent bigotry on this list

[Diane Brandon]

Hi All,

This is an educational conversation.

My thoughts:

When I get angry and "yell" (whether in tone or volume) at someone, I 
figure I've "lost it" -- lost my centeredness. I'm emotionally and 
intellectually upset. I've lost some control of my behavior. I'm 
afraid, angry. Someone has stepped on my toes, as one saying goes. This 
is relative to my valuing being calm and rational. (We native New 
Englanders have a culture of reserve, as you probably know!) I feel 
emotionally unstable at that point. I don't have any mental illness 
"diagnosis" -- and the word "unstable" is an okay name for how I am 
when angry. Okay for me.... but I'm hearing it's not okay for some 
others.

Diane


On Mar 7, 2006, at 8:02 AM, Rosanna wrote:

> Hello Tree,
>  
> You wrote:
> “You, Rosana, are absolutely free to hold any beliefs you hold, both 
> as an individual and as an advocate.  I happen to believe that your 
> use of the word unstable to reference behavior you do not like is just 
> the kind of stigma that perpetuates many of the problems people with 
> mental health disabilities have.  If even an advocate for persons with 
> mental health disabilities cannot identify stigma when she sees it.”
>  
> I wish it were only a behaviour I “don’t like”. I wouldn’t have used 
> the word “unstable” to reference to a disagreement, or a difference in 
> taste.
>  
> I happen to think that mood swings just happen, and it’s not the fault 
> of the person that has them, because s/he can’t do anything about it. 
> What *is* a matter of responsibility is to decide whether to act on 
> them or not. I might feel like strangling a person, but I don’t act on 
> that urge and should I decide to, I would accept consequences for it 
> (that is, people locking me away).
>  
> Stigma is multifaceted. *Part* of the stigma is rooted in people being 
> afraid of whatever is different, especially in the brain, and 
> especially in Western societies. Another part of it is rooted into 
> people witnessing *some* persons with mental illness using their 
> mental illness (for example, mood swings) to *justify* their bad 
> behaviour, not accepting responsibility for what they do wrong (aka 
> acting on mood swings, saying stuff like “it’s not my fault if I 
> yelled at you, I have bipolar”).
>  
> So, I happen to fight stigma by fighting those behaviours as well (not 
> just “other”’s ignorance).
>  
> My “expertise” relates to the fact that I have bipolar, I have loved 
> ones with it, I am a medical student (master thesis in Psychiatry), 
> the founder of a self-help online group, a volunteer manager 
> advocating for inclusion of volunteers with mental illness, a 
> management consultant crafting accommodation policies, and a writer 
> that got works on psychiatric rehabilitation and advocacy published 
> quite some times.
>  
> This is not to flaunt my expertise BUT to say: in order to understand 
> stigma and to fight it, multiple perspectives are neeed, not just the 
> one from the person with mental illness.
>  
> Think about yourself being “normal” and witnessing somebody acting out 
> demanding to have such behaviour condoned in the name of mood swings 
> that can’t be controlled while you, the “normies”, can’t afford to 
> yell at your boss. Then tell me why a normal person might have it in 
> with a person with mental illness.
>  
> Rosanna
>  
> "Knowledge must come through action"
>  -Sophocles
> https://www.linkedin.com/in/gionnetto
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Tree 
> Fitzpatrick
> Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2006 1:44 PM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Re: some recent bigotry on this list
>  
> There is no reason to assume anyone that has been identified as having 
> any mental health disability is 'clearly mentally unstable' simply 
> because they do something we do not like.
>
>  And there is no reason to perpetuate false myths about people with 
> mental health disabilities by claiming that anyone who exhibits less 
> than perfect behavior, such as spouting off when angry, indicates that 
> person is 'unstable'.  To be bandying about the word 'unstable', with 
> clear references, be they implicit or explicit, that the reference is 
> suggesting that the person in question has a tendency to imbalance is 
> perpetuating some deeply entrenched myths about what it means to be a 
> person with a mental health disability.  If Birgitt had not mentioned 
> that the participants at her event all had bipolar or schizophrenia, 
> but had, instead, simply told a story about someone who misbehaved and 
> exhibited a bad temper, then I am fairly certain that Paul would not 
> have employed the phrase 'clearly mentally unstable', that you would 
> not now be lumping all people who have ever lost their temper into the 
> category of 'mentally unstable', etc.  The stigma that inhibits people 
> with mental health disabilities from living full lives is subtly 
> pervasive in all our thoughts.  You, Rosana, are absolutely free to 
> hold any beliefs you hold, both as an individual and as an advocate.  
> I happen to believe that your use of the word unstable to reference 
> behavior you do not like is just the kind of stigma that perpetuates 
> many of the problems people with mental health disabilities have.  If 
> even an advocate for persons with mental health disabilities cannot 
> identify stigma when she sees it. . .
>
>  I have been an advocate for the mentally ill in numerous roles 
> myself, Rosana.  As an attorney, I represented many people with mental 
> health disabilities.  I have worked as an advocate for a few advocacy 
> organizations.  And, as I have disclosed, I am someone with a mental 
> health disability.  I mention my expertise,Rosana, only because you 
> have mentioned yours.
>
>  Sincerely,
>  Tree Fitzpatrick, MS, JD
>
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