What is a disability (mental/emotional)? And what is the social stigma of mental illness?

I know the definition of disability - basically something that hinders function - but I'm looking for opinions of 'real' people and not specifically those involved with psychiatry, psychology, or social security. If you are involved with these feilds, I still welcome a response. I just don't want those who aren't to discredit their own opinion and not respond.





1 - Would you consider someone who has depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, constant suicidal ideations, or a personality disorder as a person with a disability?





2 - Would your opinion change knowing that the person either can or cannot function adequately independently, either with activities of daily living like showering, preparing a meal, or running errands, or with larger scale responsibilities such as finding and maintaining employment or tending to finances.





3 - What is the social stigma of mental illness and what contributes to this (besides the media, tv, movies, music)?

What is a disability (mental/emotional)? And what is the social stigma of mental illness?
Hi. I am on the inside of the issue--100% disability for OCD-hoarding. It is definitely a real disability, I think even if the person is functioning relatively well in (public areas of) life. It causes severe distress at home. I hid it well from most people for many years of my life, but it has only escalated over the years and it became impossible to hide. I cannot let people who don't already know me, come into my home. They would be shocked and horrified at the mess. This has caused some awkward moments with neighbors over the years!--bringing over Christmas cookies, for example, and rather than inviting them in, I have to stop them on the porch. Or someone asks to use my phone, and I bring them the cordless outside! In the winter!


I function a little better when there is someone steady in my life (a partner), because then there is more shame and more motivation to do things like shower and get rid of trash. I have not held a real job in more than 10 years; I would either get fired for working too slowly (too meticulous and perfectionistic) or I would have a stress attack (from keeping up the pretense of "normal" at work) and quit, leaving the people wondering what happened. Both of those have happened more than once.


The social stigma is enormous for this particular variation. I think that the majority of OCD people "lean" toward the compulsively-neat side of the spectrum, and many more-or-less normal people have a few OCD "clean" tendencies, too. So when people encounter an OCD hoarder, it is somewhat unusual--though far from uncommon (many people hide it successfully)--and they are surprised, repulsed and disgusted. And it makes the newspapers when the authorities find out about one of us! Animal hoarders are a subset of this group; I am not that, but I feel sorry for people who are. I think they start out to do good, but just get overwhelmed and can't keep up with their chores/duties. Lord knows, I know what overwhelmed feels like. I can look at a problem for hours, lol.


People think that a person whose house is dirty and/or cluttered is dirty about their person. This is not always true. Or that anything they cook in their kitchen would not be sanitary. Also not necessarily true . . . although I would be wary of the people who have several indoor cats. It is hard to keep up and keep them off your countertops.


On a very few occasions, I have had no choice but to let a repairman into my (rental!) house--a plumber, or the cable guy. I am always completely humiliated, because they try not to openly say anything, but I see their eyes get wide and the look on their faces, and they hurry through the job so that they can get away. Seriously. Like they are afraid I will hurt them. Or that my illness will rub off. And I always know that they go home and tell their family and friends, "You will NOT believe the place I was in today." It is really embarrassing and discouraging. Before my disability case was approved, I was on SSI and Medicaid and EBT, and I always imagined that people were shaking their heads saying, "God, poor people are disgusting and beyond help." And it wasn't because I was poor! Because now I am not, but still have not been able to change much.


My family says that they were holding their breath waiting for the disability claim to be approved, because they knew all it would take to upset my entire life was for the landlord to drop by and me to get kicked out on the street. Poor people get referred to the local authorities; well-off people are eccentric. There are some very famous stories of people who had OCD and/or hoarding. Check out this site also:


%26lt;%26gt;http://squalorsurvivors.com%26gt;
Reply:1- No question, yes. They are all disabilities.


2- Functioning adequately no longer constitutes "disabled", unless there are some or numerous relapses, and you can be sure in many cases there are. Also, even functioning adequately, the mentally ill are less likely to cope with the stresses that others do. As soon as stress level goes up, their functioning ability suffers. Sudden problems can occur with the kind and dose of medication they're taking, and this factors in.


3- The mentally ill are often perceived as stupid or dangerous. Only a small percentage are dangerous, and most aren't at all stupid.
Reply:As far as disability is concerned, I feel that anyone who is impeded in life, or has limited function in society due to a mental/emotional disorder..is disabled to the extent their illness causes them to be different from everyone else in a way they do not understand. Some in society do not understand the factors/stimulus involved in mental/emotional disorders, making them blind to the fact that a person, a human being lies beneath the exterior they gaze upon. In some ways, society works to alleviate the problem, yet in others, society has a way of shunning those who are different and causing more problems. God Bless