Tags
acitivist, Advocate, bipolar, humor, jokes, mental health, mental illness, psychiatry, psychology, schizophrenia
Yesterday, in my news feed on Facebook, there was a post about a man and a woman arrested for selling golden tickets to heaven. In the article the man said that he bought the tickets from Jesus so if they were going to arrest anyone it should be Jesus.
Of course, I suspected psychosis, either drug induced or from schizophrenia, or a combination of both. The article went viral. People thought it was funny.
It turns out that the article was an April Fool’s joke posted a long time ago, and “real” news outlets fell for it and ran the article again. Here is the article and a newspaper’s apology here:
I have a sense of humor. I laugh every single day, but I don’t laugh at racial jokes, jokes about homosexuality, or jokes about women. Why is it that people still, and in great numbers, think mental illness (or drug addiction), is funny?
Please leave me a comment and tell me why you think people find mental illness so humorous, and why we are the last marginalized group where even the politically correct find it perfectly acceptable to make fun of us?
I wish I knew. Things move so slowly … taking generations to happen. Maybe, just maybe, it’s fear of an unknown. It’s not an excuse but it may be a very unhelpful reaction. Speak out . Tell it like it is. Just like you’re doing. People are listening to you and that is good. Hey … All the best.
Hope your husband’s lungs are behaving.
Kris.
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Thank you. Do you really think it is fear of the unknown? You could be right, I really don’t know, but I think it has to do with not seeing us as fully human. In other words, we are less than, as so many groups have been in the past.
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I think we often fear things we don’t fully understand rather than trying to embrace them. I’m scared of growing old. I’m scared of losing my ability to breath. I’m scared of being lonely. When I was about 10 years old I remember sitting under a tree in the summer sunshine. I was very happy. I promised myself there and then that I would cherish this moment forever. I travel back and visit myself under that tree whenever I feel low or uncertain. I’m always there smiling back at myself. Then I’m not afraid. You are fully human. Those who think less of you … well maybe they themselves are struggling with their own humanity.
Hey … best! 😀
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Thank you! A beautiful story.
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Actually I think this is the most likely answer, although I wouldn’t say “fear of the unknown”. I think it is just the unknown. Mental illness IS the great unknown, even the medical realms still don’t understand most of it. For the average “Joe on the street” they have no idea and due to the attached stigma, are reluctant to find out. The easiest solution for the is to laugh or smile at those comments or jokes and pretend that they are ok with it. Personally I think most people are afraid that if they really understand the extent of this illness they will probably have to admit that they too are sufferers. Let’s face it most people know what race they are, if they are homosexual or not, if they are a woman or not, but who really knows even their own mind! This ain’t going to change anytime soon.
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Thanks for your input. It seems most people agree that fear plays some part in it.
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Great question. Not sure I have the answer. But maybe it’s “funny” because the issue is tabu and too intense for some to adresse or even talk about, therefore, people tend to hide behind a joke rather than adresse the actual facts and issues with mental illness. We need more people like you sharing and bringing awareness to living with a or several mental illness!
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Thank you. That is possible, I don’t know the reason either, it is so tiring though, because it is so common. I see it every day. There are times when it makes me angry, times when it makes me frustrated, times when it makes me sad, and times that I just sigh. I try to make a difference, and I know many other people do too, but it is just so much a part of this culture.
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I think people sometimes make fun of things when they feel uncomfortable. Deciding that something is funny may be preferable than admitting discomfort.
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Yes, that is possible. Thanks!
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I imagine there are many who don’t recognize mental illness (mild to severe) when it is standing right there in front of them and how many individuals, families and friends in their lives are impacted by it each and every day…as if it is a rarity…when it is not. In a politically correct climate, some people think it is the kind of humor they can get by with without offending too many people when, in fact, so many people are impacted by mental illness and are offended but don’t talk about it openly because of stigma.
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You could be right. I just can’t get over how much I witness it. It really is all around us, all the time. I don’t know how to even make a dent in raising awareness about it, because I think it is so ingrained in our culture that people will just say, “oh lighten up.” Those same people will throw a fit if you say something even remotely racist, sexist, homophobic, etc (rightfully so, but when will it be our turn to be defended?)
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I wholeheartedly agree with you.
I try to address it whenever I encounter it and have heard “lighten up” on more than one occasion. One of the most effective encounters took place at a holiday party a few years ago. Someone started to tell a joke involving a mental hospital and schizophrenia. I just stood and looked directly into the eyes of the woman telling the joke until her eyes met mine and did not laugh at the punch line. There was a little nervous laughter from the group and the group quickly fell away. In that case, silence put an end to it.
But it is especially prevalent on social media where it is impossible for people to actually witness the pain or discomfort their humor causes.
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Yes, it is all over social media. I can’t get away from it.
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I don’t have any explanations that go beyond the good insights others have already posted. It is some combination of not understanding much of anything about mental illness and fear probably. But I was going to say that it also appears to be acceptable to many to make comments and jokes about people who are overweight and even about people experiencing homelessness. There’s still plenty of work to do to build more compassion in our culture.
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Thanks, and I agree!
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I think people fear what they perceive to be “different” or “strange”, and for many people, mental illness is just that…and it’s easy to poke fun at things we don’t understand. This reminded me of several instances in which I’ll be conversing with someone & they’ll mention how strange a person was acting, to which I ask questions and gather that it’s probably some sort of mental disorder. I don’t know. Mental illness doesn’t excuse everything, but I know I exhibit some “odd” behaviors because of my illness. People just don’t know how to handle mental illness, even in 2015.
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Thanks! Yes, many people don’t know how to handle the topic of mental illness. Thanks for your input, I am really trying to understand this.
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I think it could be a lack of understanding. Maybe the individual cracking the joke has never gone through withdrawals or has ever been in a mental hospital. It’s kind of a common thing for people to put others down to build themselves up. If people don’t understand what the mentally ill go through, they may be scared. Fear can cause someone to feel inferior, so they have to break someone down to feel less fearful/inferior. I’m not sure why they assume people with mental illnesses need to be broken down any more than they already are. Plus I don’t think people with brain disorders are any weaker than the next guy.
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Thanks! You could be right. I’m trying to figure it out, and your input is helpful.
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Could be nervous laughter from fear. Fear that some day they might find themselves as the butt of the joke suffering from depression or bipolar disease. It’s easier to laugh about something we fear or don’t understand than than try to be more sympathetic.
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Thanks! You could be right. I am trying hard to understand it.
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Thank you! Most people here seem to agree with you that people making fun of mental illness are in some way afraid of it.
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I think it is because it has been treated like a character flaw for so long instead of an illness, that people are completely insensitive about it. Having said that, when we were growing up, my siblings and I would sometimes laugh about something that my mom did that embarrassed us. We didn’t really mean it to make fun of her as much as we used humor as a coping mechanism to deal with the reactions of our friends. Nowadays I will let people know that I don’t appreciate it when they make insensitive comments or assumptions.
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I think your laughter as a child was totally appropriate. People on the inside occasionally use humor in order to break the stress and get some relief. I think that is different from the jokes I see and hear.
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The majority of who commented have it right. Fear. Not of others but of the “what if it happens to me or mine? ” there isn’t a syrup that you can take to help it all go away.
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Thanks! You are right, most people here think it is fear.
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To play the devils advocate- I think sometimes people see “kooky” or “eccentric” and don’t make an association with mental illness. There are so many comedy characters that are portrayed as such, but if you give some thought to those characters, you could actually see signs of mental illness in their behaviour- e.g. almost all the characters on Seinfeld. I have pulled people up many times for laughing at a person or behaviour when it is due to mental illness and I’ve seen the humour quickly disappear when they get it that it is actually a person who is ill and not a comedy routine.
In summary, I think the portrayal of mental illness as a funny character trait is what is to blame.
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Thanks! You may be right, that may be a part of it.
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Yes, just one possible explanation. I agree that fear must play a big part too. At the end of the day though, if people were generally more compassionate, they would try to understand the drivers behind other peoples behaviours, whether due to mental illness or otherwise. I hope things change with the greater awareness people are having about mental illness. Your blog and the discussions you start go a long way in making that change happen 🙂
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Thank you! I hope you are right! 🙂
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p.s. is your book out yet?
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I was bothered by this whole thing too… But especially bothered by the droves of people who made derogatory comments, as if the people in the story’s lives did not matter. Granted it was fiction, but I was still very bothered by the reaction of the rabble.
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Me too.
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Agree fear plays a part I feel , but also stigma and peoples old fashioned views, ” there coming to take me away ,the nut house, white coats, huggable jackets , ” media, so called comics , getting a cheap laugh, ect, ect, the list goes on and on, and needs to be changed totally ,
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