What Social Anxiety Feels Like

To understand anxiety, it is necessary to come up with vivid metaphors.

When I become anxious in a public place, a bothersome and uncomfortable feeling comes over me. I feel embarrassed as if I spilled soda all over myself and my clothes are wet and dirty. My thoughts are turned painfully inward, and it feels as though I am the center of (unwanted) attention.

I feel vulnerable and want to escape. I am extremely self-conscious, as if everyone's eyes are on me: judging my appearance and pose. I may even feel conscious of my walking and start to deliberately putting one leg in fromt of the other and may even trip. I keep thinking, "I look weird," and "I act awkwardly." It is as if I am a criminal, escorted by the police in handcuffs on a perp walk. I feel uncomfortable in my own skin and just want to disappear, to find an exit, to escape.

Disabled Parking Placard for Depression and Anxiety

Disabled placards should not be denied to people with depression and anxiety. Depression is the number one cause of disability in America. That means it's more crippling than any other ailment, including cancer, arthritis, and heart disease. Anxiety, including panic attacks, PTSD, GAD, and Social Phobia, can be just as crippling. Yet, I was denied a disabled placard for Anxiety by my PCP, which is discrimination against people with mental illnesses.

For example, when I had depression, I often worried that I will get a ticket. I once parked near a fire hydrant at night without any warning signs or a red curb, and got a ticket which caused significant distress. I filed a dispute, which, after a half-year "evaluation" period, was rejected. Dealing with parking tickets is anxiety-provoking and energy-depleting.

Walking through a busy parking lot can trigger anxiety. Sometimes I felt the need to run and get away, like I'm being chased by an unknown predator or like I'm falling down from a ten-story building. It's an awful, emotionally-draining feeling, and should not be endured by people with anxiety disorders.

I also worried about hitting other cars and people as I was looking for a parking space. I'd feel much safer to know where I'm going to park.

The anxiety made it significantly harder for me to function, just as if I had a broken leg. This anxiety is excessive and much more intense then what most people feel.

Anxiety is a disability; and a frighteningly real one. Therefore, we need to give disabled placards to people who have depression and anxiety.

How To Talk About Mental Illness

Just like saying "that's gay" is insensitive to the gay community, saying "that's crazy" is insensitive to people with mental illness. A simple way to advocate for mental health and help alleviate mental illness prejudice is by changing such language when talking about mental illness as well as correcting others when they misuse this language.

Appropriate language focuses on people’s abilities instead of their limitations. It always puts the person first before the mental illness to demonstrate his dignity and worth. We talk about a person’s illness only if necessary. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind when talking or writing about mental illness:

• Avoid using adjectives that label people as "schizophrenics" or "a schizophrenic". Instead, use first-person language and name the illness, such as “he has schizophrenia” or “a person with schizophrenia”. This change distinguishes the person from the illness and treats him as an individual rather than defining him by his illness. 
• Avoid the article "the" and thereby avoid, "the mentally ill". Use first-person language, such as, "people with mental illnesses". 
• Avoid the abstract, "mental illness," whenever you can, use the fully informative specific diagnosis. 
• Avoid saying “committed suicide” or "failed/successful suicide attempt”. “Commit” connotes a crime, and suicide is not a crime. "Failed" and "successful" are ridiculous to use in this context. Instead, say “died by suicide” or “killed himself”.
• Don’t joke about mental illness, such as “I'd rather shoot myself”, “I’m OCD”, or “he must be bipolar”, to describe daily situations. Suicide and OCD are serious affliction, and talking about them casually is ignorant, insensitive, and minimizes their gravity. If you hear somebody say something like “Taking that class is suicide”, say that you know somebody who died by suicide (if you do) and that you’d like that this subject be treated with respect.

Labels / Outdated Language	Preferred / First-Person Language
• Crazy • Psycho • Insane • Lunatic	• A person with a mental health condition • A person with experience of [a mental health condition]
• Normal • Sane	• A person without a mental illness • Healthy
• Paranoid schizophrenic • Anorexic • Depressive • Obsessive-compulsive	• A person with paranoid schizophrenia / Anorexia nervosa / Major depression / Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Emotionally disturbed	• A person with an emotional disturbance
• Special education student	• A student receiving special education services
• Addict • Substance abuser • Alcoholic	• A person with a substance abuse disorder / experience of substance abuse •  A person with alcohol abuse
• Mentally ill / The mentally ill	• A person with mental illness • People with mental illnesses • People with experience of mental illness
• Patient • Client • Case	• Individual • Service recipient • Consumer • Survivor
• Successful suicide • Unsuccessful / failed suicide • Committed suicide	• Died by suicide / killed oneself • Attempted suicide • Performed suicide
• That drives me crazy / nuts • That party was crazy • My schedule is crazy • He is nuts / mental	• That bothers / annoys me • That party was sweet / off the hook / totally badass / hella fuckin’ balls-to-the-wall awesome • My schedule is chaotic / hectic / busy • He is weird / interesting / wild / funny

References:
http://www.hogg.utexas.edu/initiatives/language_matters.html
http://flpic.org/advocacy-for-language/

Union Tribune Contributes to Stigma... Again

The San Diego Union-Tribune editorial cartoonist, Steve Breen, has once again created a graphic that stigmatizes against all individuals who seek mental health treatment. The cartoon depicts an individual laying on a chaise with a therapist taking notes on a chair nearby. The patient's head is a grenade and the caption above the cartoon says 'Lawyers: James Holmes was psychiatric patient prior to shooting'.

http://www.utsandiego.com/photos/galleries/steve-breen-gallery/#/3


This graphic stigmatizes against all individuals who seek mental health treatment.

"the overall contribution of mental disorders to the total level of violence in society is exceptionally small." --U. S. Surgeon General

There are a lot of reasons why violence occurs in our society, most of which have nothing to do with mental illness.

How to Think About Depression

There is a lot of misunderstanding and stigma associated with clinical depression, not to mention that the feelings experienced by someone with depression are inaccessible to someone who has not suffered from it - in the same way as none of us will truly understand what someone in a concentration camp during WWII was going through - so I don't blame anyone for not understanding the extent of the illness - only for not trying.

If you'd like to understand what suffering from clinical depression is really like, I suggest starting with the Wikipedia article on major depressive disorder and to read up on people's experiences from memoir (e.g., Darkness Visible) or online (e.g, www.ihaveamentalillness.com).

The truth is that more people kill themselves from going through this illness than die in traffic accidents. A person with depression cannot control how he feels, and he feels guilty and ashamed of this fact. So saying that feeling bad is no use only exacerbates that blame and reminds the person of his own inadequacy.

I had depression and the experience is a humbling one - the world is not always a positive place we'd like it to be. Depression is as insidious as cancer, and a person can't cure depression by simply changing his thinking, just like he can't cure his cancer by changing his thoughts. Sometimes - but less often then not - a person cannot ever feel better and death is the only solution. Sad but true.