Our stories
- Mark Discussion as New
- Mark Discussion as Read
- Float this Discussion for Current User
- Favourite
- Subscribe
- Printer Friendly Page
- Mark as New
- Favourite
- Subscribe
- Get link
- Flag for Moderator
10-03-2016 05:32 PM
10-03-2016 05:32 PM
The difficulty of picturing mental illness
What image comes to mind if I say mental illness?
The chances are that everyone will picture something very different.
Some have reported they picture landscapes, emotions reflected in nature, while others report images that represent isolation and invisibility.
Whilst reading online news I’ve seen mental illness represented in many different ways: illustrations of the brain, the same person with multiple faces, the list goes on.
There are many different representations and interpretations of mental illness. It reflects the wide variety of views we have on mental illness.
How would you like mental illness to be depicted?
We would love to hear your description or see an uploaded image (see edit or insert image above text box when you choose Reply below)
*Please note: images must be aligned to Community Guidelines. They must not be:
- an identifiable image of yourself or anyone you know
- images the depict suicide or self harm
- graphic images of any nature
- Mark as New
- Favourite
- Subscribe
- Get link
- Flag for Moderator
10-03-2016 06:15 PM - edited 10-03-2016 06:27 PM
10-03-2016 06:15 PM - edited 10-03-2016 06:27 PM
Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness
I see myself as a pale reflection moving through a barbed landscape.
and trapped behind an opaque glass since childhood (looking through a glass darkly).
- Mark as New
- Favourite
- Subscribe
- Get link
- Flag for Moderator
10-03-2016 09:17 PM
10-03-2016 09:17 PM
Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness
a faceless person who is lost... somehow (im still not entirely sure who i am or what makes up me, or what i want to be me?) and i just feel lost or trapped in a a massive world where even familiar things start to look new and unfamiliar. - but its been a big week.
- Mark as New
- Favourite
- Subscribe
- Get link
- Flag for Moderator
12-03-2016 11:38 AM
12-03-2016 11:38 AM
Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness
Hi @NikNik
I see my mental illness as:
A tangled web. So many webs all criss crossing each other. And each time I untangle a bit of the web I get caught up in another web. It feels like I can never get out of this web. A tangled mess. Confusion, voices, visions.
When I see the words 'mental illness' I see pain, hurt, victim, depression, sadness, frustration, anger, isolation, abandonment. I see so much pain, yet a little bit of strength (not much). I see lots of tears and I see myself as a little girl crying huddled up in a corner with nowhere to go, but hiding away from everyone, being scared, being isolated. And more tears.
- Mark as New
- Favourite
- Subscribe
- Get link
- Flag for Moderator
12-03-2016 12:22 PM
12-03-2016 12:22 PM
Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness
Pictures tell a story of mental illness
http://www.smh.com.au/national/pictures-tell-a-story-of-mental-illness-20160310-gnfuzm.html
- Mark as New
- Favourite
- Subscribe
- Get link
- Flag for Moderator
12-03-2016 02:50 PM
12-03-2016 02:50 PM
Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness
For me it's truckloads of information (say, like a box of sand or dirt) to sift through, only to find that the 'good' bits of sand have gone by the time you get to them. This is how I think of it 'externally', when I'm in the midst of it it's just endless thoughts. It seems as though my one is quite different to the others.
- Mark as New
- Favourite
- Subscribe
- Get link
- Flag for Moderator
12-03-2016 05:05 PM
12-03-2016 05:05 PM
Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness
- Mark as New
- Favourite
- Subscribe
- Get link
- Flag for Moderator
12-03-2016 07:12 PM
12-03-2016 07:12 PM
Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness
- Mark as New
- Favourite
- Subscribe
- Get link
- Flag for Moderator
17-03-2016 01:05 PM
17-03-2016 01:05 PM
Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness
alone
Scorpion
- Mark as New
- Favourite
- Subscribe
- Get link
- Flag for Moderator
17-03-2016 01:27 PM
17-03-2016 01:27 PM
Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness
@SCORPION - you are not alone.