I want to talk a little about mental illness.
Which, I don't like calling it that. It makes it sound like something similar to a cold. Like you can just take something and everything goes away, and you feel fine, and go about the world like normal. Like someone can visit, and tuck you in and bring you tea and soup and the next day you wake up feeling like you're back in fighting shape.
And, it's not like that. Things like depression, or anxiety or a slew of other things are something that sticks around for a long time. Even if you manage to overhaul your life and feel better, you're still susceptible to it. If the personal case is enough to feel that meds are necessary, they often lessen the symptoms, but don't completely alleviate them, and in most cases, isn't something that after taking them long enough you no longer need.
While talking to Lux after Thanksgiving, he said he often feels like people go away when they realize that he doesn't want people to try and fix him. I told him that I understood, and that while I want to help, that's me trying to be supportive and care. He assured me that I was not included in that group, but rather that instead of support, they saw him as a project to fix.
In my head, I screamed in rage. Because while Lux does require some care and attention from partners and friends, he just like many others, doesn't need to be fixed.
There's nothing there to fix, because he isn't broken.
People aren't projects. And the majority of the time, people aren't broken. It's not like a model car that might have a piece snapped. People are themselves, and whatever is in their brain is just an aspect of them. It's important to try and grow and improve as people, and it can be useful to have friends and loved ones around for support and encouragement through that, but it doesn't make them broken.
I know a lot of people who almost consciously seek people out with mental illness to try and turn them into projects for their own satisfaction. Like if they can have their mental state improved it is something they are responsible for, and take the credit of doing, rather than seeing the person as a person, liking them for who they are, and encouraging them to simply be their best self so they can enjoy more of life.
Brains are complex things, and so are people. Mental illness is one more layer to everything.
Which, I don't like calling it that. It makes it sound like something similar to a cold. Like you can just take something and everything goes away, and you feel fine, and go about the world like normal. Like someone can visit, and tuck you in and bring you tea and soup and the next day you wake up feeling like you're back in fighting shape.
And, it's not like that. Things like depression, or anxiety or a slew of other things are something that sticks around for a long time. Even if you manage to overhaul your life and feel better, you're still susceptible to it. If the personal case is enough to feel that meds are necessary, they often lessen the symptoms, but don't completely alleviate them, and in most cases, isn't something that after taking them long enough you no longer need.
While talking to Lux after Thanksgiving, he said he often feels like people go away when they realize that he doesn't want people to try and fix him. I told him that I understood, and that while I want to help, that's me trying to be supportive and care. He assured me that I was not included in that group, but rather that instead of support, they saw him as a project to fix.
In my head, I screamed in rage. Because while Lux does require some care and attention from partners and friends, he just like many others, doesn't need to be fixed.
There's nothing there to fix, because he isn't broken.
People aren't projects. And the majority of the time, people aren't broken. It's not like a model car that might have a piece snapped. People are themselves, and whatever is in their brain is just an aspect of them. It's important to try and grow and improve as people, and it can be useful to have friends and loved ones around for support and encouragement through that, but it doesn't make them broken.
I know a lot of people who almost consciously seek people out with mental illness to try and turn them into projects for their own satisfaction. Like if they can have their mental state improved it is something they are responsible for, and take the credit of doing, rather than seeing the person as a person, liking them for who they are, and encouraging them to simply be their best self so they can enjoy more of life.
Brains are complex things, and so are people. Mental illness is one more layer to everything.
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