how many have a mental illness?

[breakingboxes]

I have bipolar and severe anxiety...

[Wellie Boots]

I don't have one but my sister has had depression and anorexia for the past 2 years so I don't take lightly to what some people say about it.

[Charni]

I have ADHD (I don't know if that is a mental illness) and asperges.

[Owen]

Anxiety (that sometimes morphs into depression, but I didn't pick depression because I've never shown the symptoms of long-term depression; it's always episodic) and Asperger's syndrome. I've never been formally diagnosed with anxiety (I have been diagnosed with AS by a professional), but there are far too many iterations of the Anxiety Cat meme that I've identified with for it to be coincidence. I've learned to live with the AS remarkably well, but the anxiety still gets the best of me sometimes. :-/

[breakingboxes]

Originally Posted by Wellie Boots

I don't have one but my sister has had depression and anorexia for the past 2 years so I don't take lightly to what some people say about it.

I am recovering from anorexia and it is definitely not something to take lightly!!!!!!

[DJT]

I have/ had social anxiety. I've always wondered if I wasn't gay would I have anxiety, because I think I got anxiety because of being bullied for being gay. But I wouldn't change what has happen too me because it's made me a stronger person, it's helped me figure out who I am and be proud of that.

[GoinStag]

Clinical depression, anxiety, and ADD (idk if that counts). All three I'm working on with meds and therapy.

[Trekkie]

Depression and ADHD fun mix

[Tiny Catastrophe]

Depression, anxiety, slight mood disorder and ptsd. I'm a mental disaster XD. I tried meds for a few years and I'm actually doing so much better without them. Go figure.

[Alexandria]

Personally, I am of the opinion that society - and the shrink community in particular - is far to quick to assign 'disorders' and/or 'diseases' to far too many people, well over 90% of whom simply need a hand or someone to talk to on occasion. Much if not most of it is simply the pharmaceutical companies raping the people while flat out lying to them about such things. Hells, how long did it take them quacks to decide homosexuality was NOT a disease? I know, speaking for myself, I could go to a dozen of these quacks, get two dozen different diagnoses, and enough pills to open my own damned pharmacy.

That all being said, I will also say I've met the one in ten or a hundred that DO need medication, as they were off the wall batshit crazy. Still, they mental health community has barely begun to understand the human mind, and takes far too many chances just pumping people full of meds.

Just my opinionated little opinion, however.

[Danielle]

I have had diagnoses of clinical depression, bi-polar and borderline personality disorder.

[Rooni321]

Depression, anorexia, and bulimia

Not cool mannn

[Daisy1]

I suffered from depression, anxiety, and anorexia in the past, but I'm pretty good now.

If anyone wants to talk about eating disorders, though, feel free to PM me.

[duriru]

I have AvPD. I haven't been diagnosed, but the signs and symptoms literally describe me. I have also suffered from anorexia, bulimia, and depression.

[TraceElement]

I have been diagnosed with ADD, OCD, anxiety, and depression.
My psychologist is sending me to a psychiatrist to further discuss if I have a mood disorder.
I wouldn't be surprised if I am diagnosed down the road with some sort of social deficit or social interaction problem.

[needshelp]

Originally Posted by Alexandria

Personally, I am of the opinion that society - and the shrink community in particular - is far to quick to assign 'disorders' and/or 'diseases' to far too many people, well over 90% of whom simply need a hand or someone to talk to on occasion. Much if not most of it is simply the pharmaceutical companies raping the people while flat out lying to them about such things. Hells, how long did it take them quacks to decide homosexuality was NOT a disease? I know, speaking for myself, I could go to a dozen of these quacks, get two dozen different diagnoses, and enough pills to open my own damned pharmacy.

That all being said, I will also say I've met the one in ten or a hundred that DO need medication, as they were off the wall batshit crazy. Still, they mental health community has barely begun to understand the human mind, and takes far too many chances just pumping people full of meds.

Just my opinionated little opinion, however.

you are not alone on this. i agree 100 percent with you. everybody has quirks. some quirks are worse than others where medication is required.

[Kidd]

I consider myself healthy, I like to consider myself recovered/recovering, but in the past I have suffered from very intense social and general anxiety and when I was in middle school and high school I was bulimic. When I was even younger than that I suffered from an "eating disorder not otherwise specified" that almost put me in a hospital because of malnutrition. Very, very rarely something will make me relapse or meltdown but I have a pretty good grasp on my life now.

[Chouchou]

I haven't been diagnosed with anything, but that's mostly because my parents refuse to think that there's anything wrong with me despite all the times they openly wondered if I had a problem, and have forbidden me to see shrinks for fear of having to take medication that I don't need.

That said, and with apologies to my former psychology professor who warned against self-diagnosis, I have so many behaviors and personality traits that match well with common symptoms of adult ADD that I strongly suspect that I have it.

[Owen]

Originally Posted by Alexandria

Personally, I am of the opinion that society - and the shrink community in particular - is far to quick to assign 'disorders' and/or 'diseases' to far too many people, well over 90% of whom simply need a hand or someone to talk to on occasion. Much if not most of it is simply the pharmaceutical companies raping the people while flat out lying to them about such things. Hells, how long did it take them quacks to decide homosexuality was NOT a disease? I know, speaking for myself, I could go to a dozen of these quacks, get two dozen different diagnoses, and enough pills to open my own damned pharmacy.

That all being said, I will also say I've met the one in ten or a hundred that DO need medication, as they were off the wall batshit crazy. Still, they mental health community has barely begun to understand the human mind, and takes far too many chances just pumping people full of meds.

Just my opinionated little opinion, however.

While I agree with you, when someone's "mental quirk" is bad enough to affect their life in a tangibly negatively way, having a name to call it by makes it less imposing, and can clarify the path to dealing with it. It's not medical; it's just people describing how they are. That's why I say I have anxiety and not an anxiety disorder; they're different degrees of the same thing, and I know my degree isn't bad enough to warrant a medical diagnosis, but it still impacts my life in a tangibly negative way. In the end, it's just easier to say "I have anxiety," than it is to say "I sometimes get irrationally worrisome over things, and that irrational worry keeps me from doing anything about whatever is that's worrying me, or anything else, for that matter."

Social Anxiety Disorder. It used to be pretty severe, now it's... OK.