Mental Illness:

The Myths vs The Realities

Z. C. Loki

COM-201

True or False?

• People with Depression are usually very sad and suicidal.

• People with OCD are usually obsessed with cleanliness and order.

• Psychopaths are usually dangerous, insane, and murderous.

• Schizophrenics are usually delusional and have multiple personalities.

The Media is to Blame

Depression, OCD, Psychopathy, and Schizophrenia are the four most

commonly portrayed mental disorders. And usually, they are grossly

misrepresented in:

• Film

• Television

• Novels & Novellas

• Short Stories & Poems

• Stage Plays

• Musicals

• Comic Books

• Video Games

Depression

The Myths of Depression

• People with Depression are usually extremely sad.

• People with Depression are usually very suicidal.

• Depression has only mentally related symptoms.

• Depression is all mood related.

These symptoms are not of

Depression, they are of

Suicidal Ideation.

The Realities of Depression

Sadness is not the only or even the most prominent symptom of depression. Sufferers of the ailment can feel physically weakened as well, either via soreness or just exhaustion.

It is also not merely a mood disorder, as it can be inflicted by anything from traumatic events to chemical imbalances within the brain.

Lastly, suicidal thoughts are not obsessive to Depression sufferers, and are but of the most extreme examples of out of control Depression.

According to the DSM, Depression is characterized by nine main symptoms:

• A negative change in mood

• A loss of interest or pleasure

• Significant weight changes

• Sleep disturbances

• Psychomotor retardation

• Physical fatigue or exhaustion

• A diminished ability to concentrate

• A sense of worthlessness

• Suicidality

Sufferers of Depression can be afflicted by any and all of these symptoms.

The Myths of OCD

• People with OCD are afraid of dirtiness.

• People with OCD are afraid of disorganization.

• People with OCD always wash things and rearrange things.

• The obsessions and compulsions mean the same thing.

These are not symptoms of OCD,

These are symptoms of Germaphobia

and/or Ataxophobia.

The Realities of OCD

First, Obsessions and Compulsions are two completely different things:

• Obsessions are repetitive and irrational thoughts and anxieties.

• Compulsions are repetitive and irrational actions or tics.

The obsessions and compulsions can revolve around most anything, not only

cleanliness and order. And they are not fears or phobias. They are their own,

separate thing.

The Realities of OCD (cont.)OCD TRAITS

Ordering Neutralizing Hoarding Cleaning Checking Obsessing

Ecker, Kupfer, and Gonner. Incompleteness as a Link. (2014)

Of the six most common

OCD Traits, Ordering is

actually the least common,

and Cleaning is only the

third most common.

According to the DSM, OCD is characterized by two main symptoms:

• Repetitive and irrational obsessions that may be graphic, violent, or sexual, or

simply unwanted and are nigh impossible to shake.

• Repetitive and irrational compulsions that the person may try to ignore but

are nigh impossible to shake.

The Myths of Psychopathy

• Psychopaths are usually dangerous.

• Psychopaths are obsessed with violence.

• Psychopaths are compelled to kill.

• Psychopaths are usually evil.

• Being psychopathic means being mentally insane.

These symptoms more or less

describe Psychosis better than

Psychopathy.

The Realities of Psychopathy

The term Psychopathic is usually assumed to be just another synonym for “insane” or “crazy”. But in reality, Psychopathy has nothing to do with actual insanity or detachment from reality. Psychopathy literally is just a disorder that causes the sufferer to be unable to feel guilt or remorse.

And although this in itself can lead to an increased chance of becoming a serial killer or other kind of criminal, it means they could become one – not that they will become one.

Think of it this way. If you have a bathtub in your house, you increase your chances of drowning. If you have a plastic bag in your house, you increase your chances of asphyxiating. You can, but it doesn’t mean you will.

• A diminished or complete lack of remorse and/or guilt

• Pathological lying

• A grandiose sense of self-worth

• An impaired or a complete lack of the ability to form close or long-term

platonic or romantic relationships

The Myths of Schizophrenia

• Delusions and Hallucinations are the same thing.

• Schizophrenics are mostly delusional.

• Schizophrenics have dialogues with their hallucinations/delusions.

• Schizophrenics have multiple personalities.

These symptoms match Multiple

Personality Disorder better than

they match Schizophrenia.

The Realities of Schizophrenia

First off, Hallucinations are Delusions are not the same thing:

• Hallucinations are auditory or visual figments that the sufferer knows to be

nonexistent.

• Delusions are auditory or visual figments that the sufferer believes to be existent.

Delusions are possible for a Schizophrenic to suffer from, but Hallucinations are far

more commonplace.

The Realities of Schizophrenia (cont.)

As for the common belief that Schizophrenics have multiple personalities, that

is actually a symptom of Multiple Personality Disorder, and has absolutely

nothing to do with Schizophrenia.

According to the DSM, Schizophrenia is made up of five different symptoms:

• Auditory or visual hallucinations

• Auditory or visual delusions

• High levels of Paranoia

• Disorganized speech

• Disorganized thoughts

The DSM’s Definition of

Schizophrenia

Quick Review

• Depression does not always equal Sadness and Suicide.

• OCD does not always equal Cleanliness and Order.

• Psychopathy does not always equal Violence and Murder.

• Schizophrenia does not always equal Delusions and Multiple Personalities.

TRUETRUE

TRUE

TRUE

Concluding…

There are other disorders that are misrepresented by the media everyday, always furthering the popular stereotypes of mental illness:

• ADHD

• BPD

• EDD

• IED

• PTSD

• And hundreds, hundreds more…

Why It’s Important to be Aware of Mental

Illness Myths and Mental Illness Realities

• It’s important to be aware of other people’s issues.

• You or a loved one could eventually become afflicted by one.

• All things learned are things worth learning.

• It’s respectable, courteous, and good natured to those who have them. We

appreciate the effort you put into being learned about our conditions; we

don’t have to feel like outcasts or pariahs; we enjoy not being mistaken as

lunatics, and instead being noticed as the humans we are – humans who just

happen to have a disease no more weirder than asthma or lactose-intolerance.

BE EXCELLENT TO EACH OTHER