What are some ways people express their mental illnesses?

Question

This question was inspired by a post that I saw saying that people that dye their hair bright unnatural colors can show they are mentally ill which I found stupid but it did make me wonder, that there must be ways people with mental illnesses would express themselves so what are actual signs or ways people with mental illnesses would unknowingly express themselves. Which even tho it's possible to do through fashion, fashion is a way to express yourself in general so it's inaccurate to only assume that their expressiveness is coming from a mental illness when it can be from creativity as well. 🤔

4ngelic · Accepted Answer

VISUALLY

- Alt fashion: People with darker alt styles are more likely to have mental issues. It's a stereotype but it's often true. I've been different flavors of alt (goth, emo, egirl, metal girlie, etc) when I was younger, and it seemed that a big portion of people who were like this, had some problems in life or had mental illnesses. Not everyone, especially for certain subcultures, but nonetheless a big chunk. So if you see someone with piercings all in black, especially girls, 50/50 they have mental problems. Also people with eccentric or bizarre styles, if it's truly offbeat, often have problems as well. It's a textbook symptom of some psychotic illnesses, like schizophrenia.

- Bad hygiene & being unkempt: especially for a woman. If they have bad hygiene, don't brush their hair, have dirty teeth, bad skin, wear dirty or very unironed clothes, etc. Can mean they have depression or other mental illnesses. The dirtier they are, the worse it is.

-Baggy clothes for a woman: If that's mostly what she wears, could mean she's very insecure with her body. That doesn't mean anything in itself, but it could be a sign that she has eating problems or/and body image issues.

-Plastic surgery: More than half the people who get it, meet the diagnostic criteria for body dysmorphic disorder. Doesn't ness mean anything, but 50/50 they have it. Especially if it's very obvious and botched surgeries. They probably have depression as well.

-Emaciated body: If it's a woman or a gay man, probably means anorexia. Or else could be a big sign something's wrong if they have such a low appetite.

-Obesity: 90% of obese people have binge eating disorder, and often have other mental problems that lead them to that state.

-Bad teeth: especially if very yellow, rotting, and more intense periodontal disease. Especially at young ages. Signals horrible hygiene that you need to be pathologically mentally ill to have or/and substance abuse (which is directly related to mental problems). In girls, it can be a sign of bulimia.

-self harm injuries: pretty self explanatory. It's not just stacked slits, can be burns, punctures, bruises, etc.

NON VISUALLY

- a taste for the dark: Sad, emotional, dark, macabre, music. Can gravitate towards darker themes in movies, books, etc.

- excessive drinking

- substance use

- bleak, pessimistic or even nihilist views of the world

- tumultuous relationships with everyone, drama

- history of crime

- hypersexuality especially if reckless

- self endangerement

- suicidal behavior

- excessive bed rotting

- terrible executive function skills

- reckless with money

- impulsivity

- bizarre or weird ideas and beliefs

MemeSupreme · Accepted Answer

kinda broad of a question, but its usually self-destructive tendencies like isolation, lack of hygiene, lashing out, hyper/hyposexuality, ruminating, or being obsessive.

mental illness is a broad term so it can mean mild symptoms or a disorder. it really varies tbh. like it depends on the severity of the symptoms, if they have a disorder, and how it'd impact them

like dyeing your hair, tattoos, piercings, and just any change like that can be someone trying to gain control in their life. so someone might do that bc of mental illness, but its NOT like a GUARANTEED thing lol

Smart_Monk · Accepted Answer

I'll just say i have experience of what causes "it", but only in my esoteric definition of mental illness. It's most popular among gym bros actually. Being excessively lean, but especially not eating any sugar weakens the ego's grip over the body. I've been addicted to making my muscles look defined at rest by being that lean, so i have been avoiding sugar since forever, and my intellect does exceptionally well without it. However, the ego isn't dominating the body. The subconscious sometimes runs like an untamed horse due to a lack of sugar. Sugar is actually the reason modern times kicked off the way they did. By eliminating it, I'm in a sense going backward in evolution. But it's much more complex than that making anyone say that sugar is always good. Just making a statement that the diet causes us to be different, even if our IQ doesn't suffer, even if there is nothing to diagnose us with.

Pretty sure that there is a significant correlation of women becoming sort of skittle-haired and vegan keto karens. ㅤ

ritxi · Accepted Answer

I agree with you that dying hair bright unnatural colors shouldn't be perceived as a mental illness. Anyway, I think it's difficult to find somebody who can't do anything to get their mental health better. Some cases can be related to narcissism, wanting to attract attention without having any other healthier way to do that, but it's mostly related to identity and interest on looking good with that hair color.

SaoirseS · Answer

Having a washcloth pinned to the shoulder might be a clue.

sage2021 · Answer

My son's psychologist said that people dress that way to scare people so they will be left alone.🤷🏼‍♀️

leviopperman · Answer

nose rings. every 20th girl on tinder has one. get one. be single forever.

Anonymous · Answer

I get really hyper when I’m manic and very quiet and moody when I’m depressed

KostasKouvalis · Answer

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