I don’t think it’s the smartest idea to go around diagnosing people you’ve only interacted with on the Internet with specific mental illnesses. If they do have mental health issues, that’s going to be pretty counterproductive; the same if they don’t. Especially given that none of you (that I know of) are psychiatrists or psychologists with expertise in this sort of thing.
On mental health
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@Tejretics
Does that mean damned if they do and damned if they don't?If they do have mental health issues, that’s going to be pretty counterproductive; the same if they don’t.
Btw, one does not need to be a psychiatrist to understand someone with mental health disorders.
If they do or don't have a mental health problem, then yes, making an Internet diagnosis of a specific mental illness isn't gonna help.Does that mean damned if they do and damned if they don't?
One does not need to be a psychiatrist to understand someone with mental health disorders.
No, but (1) a person not being a psychiatrist/psychologist is a strong indicator that that person doesn't understand the specifics of mental health disorders and (2) that doesn't deal with my basic point, which is that you shouldn't be making your own diagnoses of other people's mental health problems on the Internet from very limited interaction, especially if without their consent.
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@Tejretics
a person not being a psychiatrist/psychologist is a strong indicator that that person doesn't understand the specifics of mental health disorders
Not true, if a family member has mental health issues, the rest of the family are usually very well versed.
It seems it's more about consent for you. Shouldn't they get my consent to post a continuous flow of crazy stuff on my threads?
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@Goldtop
Not true, if a family member has mental health issues, the rest of the family are usually very well versed.
That's why I said it's a strong indicator, not that it's always the case.
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@Tejretics
It's more often not the case simply because there is a lot of information on mental disorders that family members can become familiar and while they may not have the expertise to profile serial killers, they certainly can identify common disorders such as schizophrenia or bipolar behavior.
Then, there's the capacity to tell whether or not someone is talking crazy, such as telling you they have talked with Overlords on another planet in another galaxy, for example.
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@Goldtop
While often classified as "common," it is important to note that both psychological disorders that you bring up are not as common as one may think. The National Institute for Mental Health estimates that Bipolar Disorder affects nearly 3% of the adult US population (1). Mentalhealth.net, a resource available to aid those seeking help for mental illnesses, estimates that Schizophrenia occurs in 1.2% of the US population (2).
While both of thee conditions affect millions, the chances are already slim that someone would rightly diagnose someone else based on a few posts in a forum. Absent from a diagnosis would be, among other things:
a) The person's medical history
b) Ingestion of drugs that may influence mood
c) Professional services that deliver psychological exams (i.e. IQ tests, regardless of their validity)
d) Observations from healthcare professionals that the patient had contact with.
e) Information about whether traumatic events that may have recently occurred that could have influenced their posts
...
You get the idea. By diagnosing someone online, you end up adding a stigma to someone who really does not need it if they want to get actual help. Perceptions about violent tendencies generally affect the mentally ill population more than other groups, even if the data is not available to support such a conclusion. A 2008 "Psychiatry" journal article detailed an experiment in which doctors:
"followed several cohorts of recently discharged American psychiatric patients for one year and compared rates of violence with violence rates in a community sample in the same neighborhood. The mean number of violent acts among the discharged psychiatric patients was 1.6 acts per discharged patient per 10-week period; at 50 weeks, the average number of acts per patient was 2.12. The rate of violence among psychiatric patients was higher than the community sample only during the first 10 weeks after discharge (3)."
Despite evidence suggesting that severe mental illness alone only accounts for 4% of violent crime (per research done by Jeffrey Swanson and company in the Annals of Epidemiology,) prejudice still occurs (4). Perhaps the mixture of substance abuse, other psychological ailments, and a violent history accounts for some violence, but if you believe the constant churning of the press, you would think that mentally ill people are the most dangerous subset of people in the US.
So, the question that one needs to ask themselves is this:
Do I really want to suggest that this person is mentally ill despite the fact that I am likely to be wrong, and ignoring the erroneous social stigma affecting mentally ill people?
The answer would likely be no. Now, if the person in particular, say, PMed you and told you that they had a psychological disorder and need help, then you could direct them to resources to help them. Even if you are sure that someone has a disorder, the likelihood that they would follow your advice is minimal at best anyway though.
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@blamonkey
Except, it's not a few posts, it's hundreds and sometimes thousands of posts filled with crazy talk, over and over and over... We don't need to make accurate diagnoses of these crazy people to understand they are crazy.the chances are already slim that someone would rightly diagnose someone else based on a few posts in a forum
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@blamonkey
Unless, the person makes it very obvious through hundreds or thousands of posts of crazy talk.Do I really want to suggest that this person is mentally ill despite the fact that I am likely to be wrong, and ignoring the erroneous social stigma affecting mentally ill people?
I get that and its a fair point that we should be treating mental illness with more compassion and understanding, but there's also a time and place for that too. And you're probably right, they won't seek help, often saying its the rest of us who are crazy.Do I really want to suggest that this person is mentally ill despite the fact that I am likely to be wrong, and ignoring the erroneous social stigma affecting mentally ill people?the likelihood that they would follow your advice is minimal at best
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@Tejretics
I don’t think it’s the smartest idea to go around diagnosing people you’ve only interacted with on the Internet with specific mental illnesses. If they do have mental health issues, that’s going to be pretty counterproductive; the same if they don’t. Especially given that none of you (that I know of) are psychiatrists or psychologists with expertise in this sort of thing.
Only a bipolar person would write something like this.
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@ResurgetExFavilla
Biploar schmipolar; you're too soft. This is a bad case of Borderline Disorder.
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@Tejretics
>taking the internet this seriously.I don’t think it’s the smartest idea to go around diagnosing people you’ve only interacted with on the Internet with specific mental illnesses. If they do have mental health issues, that’s going to be pretty counterproductive; the same if they don’t. Especially given that none of you (that I know of) are psychiatrists or psychologists with expertise in this sort of thing.
@Witchypoo
Yet, I don't discuss anything with you and I have disagreements with others who aren't mentally ill.
According to him his country is better, life is better, he is smarter and not mentally ill but here he is. On a mentally ill site. It's a sad affair if he was a decent human being. He deserves to be miserable.
Are the crazy people here allowed to continue posting their psychotic behavior, their insults and personal attacks because they're crazy and we should just leave them alone with their insanity?
How does the lack of moderation for these nutters attract sane, reasonable and intelligent people to the forums?
