Your parents' views on mental illness

[everydayiloveyou]

So what kind of support (or lack of support) do you guys have at home? "Parents" can refer to your actual parent(s), your grandparents, guardian, etc.. basically, the people who are responsible for you.

Do they believe in mental illness? Like do they think depression is real, etc? Are they in a grey area? For example do they only believe in schizophrenia and eating disorders or something? Do they believe anyone but you can be mentally ill?

Next, do they support you? As in, are they accepting if you need therapy or medication? Do they believe in your illness, or do they insist there's nothing wrong and ask to be uninvolved in your treatment? Do they pay for your treatment but mumble about how it's not worth it?

My parent's don't really believe in mental illness. They've never stopped me from getting help, but they think psychology is a scam and told me that therapy would be nothing but the counselor charging me to talk about my problems. They werent wrong about that I guess lol, but I think I might've been better off if they were more accepting. But what about you guys? If you've had the opposite experience, do you think its helped at all?

 

[Squiddy]

Mine believe in mental illness but their support varies. My mom was the one who got me to go to this residential program in another state, but sometimes, she'll say things like others have it worse and that there are starving children in Africa.

 

[Throwawaysoul]

My parents are dead now. My mom always made my depression about her. "What am I doing wrong" etc.

 

[Lmd]

They think mental illness it's a new way to scam people

 

[VIBRITANNIA]

i don't know about my father, and i don't care to know his opinions.

what i will say for my mother is that she thinks mentally ill people fall into two categories: "crazy" and "moody". i fall into the latter, of course. she supports me, but her support falters the moment i become... a bit harder to handle, for lack of better words. if anything, i feel as if she's shoving me onto my therapist and doctor in hopes that it'll magically fade away, and i become "normal".

 

[Nymph]

My parents have different opinions. My whole dad's side is f ed up and all of them have some sort of mental illness, my dad included. But because he's Chinese and the culture is still pretty taboo about mental health issues. His whole life he tried to convince himself that he's not mentally ill and that's he's normal, he takes some medication but doesn't want to take it and doesn't talk about it to anyone and keeps it very much a secret. Talking about it with anyone could affect his work. Mentally ill people are seen as weak and won't contribute to society basically. So my dad wants to believe that mental illnesses are not real. My mom on the other hand totally knows that they're real, she has been having some problems lately because of her low functioning thyroid. I share my feelings with her and she set up a psychiatrist for me and everything..she still don't feel like she truly gets me because my feelings are very intense and she will never understand. I feel like I have to do something extreme to prove that I'm really feeling the agony

 

[DeathNoot]

I dont know what my dad thinks because the subject hasn't been brought up. My mom believes in mental illness but not for me lol. Any time I bring it up she tries to justify it as 'normal feelings'. My sister has issues and gets 100% belief and support. Doesn't help that I hid it for 10 years. I think she wants me to be the good kid that she didn't fuck up somehow. I'm hesitant to discuss the extent of it all as she will ether dismiss it or blame herself. Did not go well the last time I tried.

 

[deadbeat]

My parents believe in mental illness but offer zero support. I'm not close to either of them so I've never actually talked about what I deal with, so I'm not sure how they'd react in that sort of conversation. They did take me to be hospitilized in high school, but afterwards they just complained about the cost of inpatient care.

 

[noaccount]

I do not believe that a mental state can be an "illness." I believe that mental and emotional distress are debilitating for many, and most people need more support for this distress than is currently available to anyone but the most privileged. Unfortunately, to get most kinds of therapy, medications, workplace and housing accomodations, we must currently pretend that our mental and emotional suffering is a biomedical illness.

My parents do not give a flying fuck about my suffering or my needs. But they do "believe in" the sick debunked biomedical model. By which they believe that my disagreement with them, my anger, my grief, and my political dissent are "mental illness symptoms."

 

[Deleted member 20852]

My mother said mental illness isn't real it's caused by vaccines.
I don't know what my dads opinion on mental illness is but he thinks suicide is selfish, cowardly and a 'easy' way out. I can't imagine he has a particularly kind view on mental problems either.
My mum offers me no support in anything whatsoever. My dad offers a little practical support usually with my car and nothing otherwise. I don't talk about my probelms with them and they don't see me. I'm pretty much invisible to them.

 

[kappa]

My mother believes in it, but doesn't have any empathy for it. Would get the cops called on me by her if "she was worried" and didn't know until they knocked on the door.

Estranged from family now, never looking back. Don't want to ctb quite yet as I don't wanna give her the satisfaction.

 

[happyhappyfunny]

My mother really tries to support me but she thinks depression is just being sad from time to time, and having a psychosis is just being stressed out so it never really helps. I need medication, not the "everything's gonna be alright" cliche yk. I grew up poor and still am very poor unless the whole covid thing ends, so idk when im gonna be able to afford it tho.

 

[GrumpyFrog]

My mother believes that mental illness exists, but refuses to believe I have it. She is the same about the autism spectrum disorder I received as a child, and often acts as if I'm faking or exaggerating even my very obvious physical illnesses. Most of the time she prefers to pretend I don't even exist, and I guess convincing herself I am not really unwell helps her not to feel bad about the fact I might actually need help while she's ignoring me.

 

[Bitterman1996]

They don't believe in mental illness, anti psychiatric medications

Funnily enough, they tried to exorcised me twice and ironically I was a Medical school dropout.

 

[Symbiote]

My family believes that mental illness is a way to manipulate people, so they didn't believe me at all, thought that I was trying to trick them into doing something and took it further by saying that I'm gaslighting them.

 

[glitxo]

Well...my mom thinks being mentally ill is something offensive just to insult people with, but at the same time i know she sees me as sick but simply doesn't care about it and treats it like it s something that goes away like a headache i guess. The others not so close family members use the word "crazy" "or mentally insane" to describe me but they never say it in my face if they are not upset or angry with me. I don't judge them even though i've been abused and mistreated by them and others i still think they are just different somehow, i'm just hoping that someday im gonna get away and never have to see them again.

 

[itachi of death]

People are ignorant to emotions,just because u seem like you have a happy life doesn't mean you don't wanna die for no reason and every reason