Comment by thewebguyd
Comment by thewebguyd 3 days ago
> I’m just always astonished at “have you tried not being depressed?”
There's a lot of this attitude, at least in the USA, when it comes to mental illness in general. I have ADHD, it's a common trope/meme at this point of "Have you just tried focusing?" "Gee thanks, I'm cured!"
It's a form of institutional ableism, particularly prevalent in the US I think because of our hyper individualist culture. A lot of people tend to assume that you are just lazy, or not trying hard enough, as if it was just a matter of willpower.
Kind of frustrating, because those same people would never walk up to someone in a wheelchair and say "have you just tried walking?" but for some reason mental illnesses get a free pass to be ableist.
That was my experience with ADHD. In retrospect, I clearly struggled with it my entire life, with it starting to cause problems around middle school age. I started getting treatment a couple years ago and it was like someone flipped a light switch. Wait, this is what it's like for everyone else? They can just decide to start doing a necessary thing before it becomes a crisis?!
In before "of course things are easier when you're taking stimulants!", which is another dumb thing I hear too often. I feel basically nothing from taking Adderall, and not in the least stimulated or more alert or more awake or anything. I can just concentrate on boring things afterward.