Link – Depression Doesn’t Mean You’re Weak. Here’s How You Can Have a Mental Illness and Still Be Mentally Strong
I completely agree with what Amy has to say in this article. In fact I would say the same thing to child abuse survivors who are viewed as being “weak”. You’ve survived something that many people couldn’t survive. How does that make you anything but strong?
“There’s a pervasive belief that mental illness stems from weakness. But that’s not true.
Unfortunately, however, the belief is so widely held that some people don’t recognize that they’re attaching a stigma to mental illness.
When I wrote my book about mental strength, I received comments from people accusing me of stigmatizing mental illness by talking about mentally strong people. They assumed mentally strong people couldn’t have a mental illness.
But the truth is, many individuals who have a mental illness are mentally strong. In fact, some of the strongest people I’ve ever met were those who entered my therapy office seeking help for illnesses, like PTSD or depression.
Those who assume otherwise don’t understand mental strength. And they certainly don’t understand mental illness.”
