The Difference Between Having A Mental Health Issue And Attention Seeking

[Anonymous]

1) Someone With An Issue Won't Want To Tell Anyone

Someone with depression, anxiety, or an eating disorder won't want anyone to know. They usually feel embarrassed, they don't want anyone to worry or they feel as though it isn't a big enough deal to tell anyone.

Whereas, An Attention Seeker Will Try To Get People To Notice

An attention seeker will try to make people feel bad for them. They will subtly and "accidentally" let family members and friends know that they're "depressed". A lot of attention seekers will cut themselves. Not because it makes them "feel better" but because they think it proves that they are really sad. Cutting yourself isn't a logical form of release from stress, there are so many other ways to "feel better" (alcohol, drugs, sex) that don't involve physical evidence and don't harm your skin, so why would you do it, other than to prove you are depressed?

2) Someone With An Issue Will Seem Completely Normal In Social Settings

Someone battling a mental health issue will seem fine in most cases. They'll laugh and have a good time whenever they're with friends.

Whereas, An Attention Seeker Will Try To "Stand Out"

An attention seeker will find a way to bring up how terrible they've been feeling. They will try to make it seem like they're shy and hiding something, but tell you everything anyway.

3) A Person With A Mental Health Issue Will Not Seek Solace Online

A person with a real problem will not seek for "support" on social media websites such as Tumblr, Facebook, or Instagram. They will not post anything negative about their lives or make it seem like anything is wrong.

Whereas, An Attention Seeker Will Post Constantly About Their "Problems" Online

An attention seeker will have Tumblr accounts dedicated to pictures of unhealthily skinny girls with cuts on their arms, the will post selfies on Instagram with sad quotes, and they will post on Facebook about how the world is out to get them.

I apologize if you take offence to this, but there are people in the world with real problems and it's really disrespectful to pretend you have an issue when the only issue is your own self-esteem.

[John_Doesnt]

As a person with a mental illness this could not be more wrong. You're spreading a bunch of generalizations and misconceptions which could easily lead to people being treated as "attention seekers". You're not a psychologist nor are you an expert in psychology. This was insulting to somebody who has bipolar and also has family members with mental illnesses.
Stephen Hawking says the enemy of science isn't ignorance it is the illusion of knowledge. What you have created is a false illusion of science.

[TheButterfly]

Could not agree more

[myTake Owner]

As a person with a "mental illness", your opinion couldn't be any more meaningless to me

[TheButterfly]

Seriously? His paragraph was more meaningful than your entire take

[myTake Owner]

@TheButterfly Your opinions are less meaningful than texts between 12 year olds

[TheButterfly]

You make the stigma of mental illness worse.

[myTake Owner]

@TheButterfly You make the idiocy of attention seekers more prevalent

[TheButterfly]

You could have a civilized conversation yet you choose not to.

[TheButterfly]

Or maybe we are more mature and have more like experience under 18 anon. I didn't insult you until you belittled what he said.

[TheButterfly]

*life

[John_Doesnt]

you first response proved my point about how you don't really care or know about mental illness. Then you got into an even more immature insult spat with thebutterfly. This take was nothing more than an attention seeking attempt by someone calling out attention seekers.

[TheButterfly]

you're seriously just embarassing yourself at this point

[John_Doesnt]

Spewing more insults? You need to grow up, fast.

[myTake Owner]

@TheButterfly I'm not the one defending narcissistic air-heads

[FallOutBoy2001]

Yeah, I mean, you're defending yourself. You are literally who you wrote about

[EllieLexis513]

I have a mental disorder and I have to say that everything on here is spot on, at least for me it is. I feel different and I don't want anyone knowing I'm different. Very few people in my personal life even know I have bi-polar disorder and it interrupts my work a lot. It's frustrating. A lot of people can't tell anything is even wrong.

I don't see how anyone could disagree with this Take because it's so correct. I clicked on it ready to argue you to the ground, but I can't argue with any of it.

[dangerDoge]

I would disagree to an extent. Why? People with mental illnesses still may seek attention, albeit perhaps slightly differently.

(For the sake of making it easier to write, the rest is more so written referring to "depression" in mind, but I mean to apply it to the whole)
Some behave in the ways you mentioned. They shut down, want to be left alone, and will say they're "fine" if asked. Some may go so far as to create an illusion in social situations.

However, some may react differently. Some may try doing a cry-out approach. The cry out could be different person-to-person. That being said, I've never seen someone claim their legitimate mental illness in a trophy like way, but I have been around people who have hinted at their mental illness... almost like they want someone to know, but still feel ashamed of flat out saying it.

I'll use cutting as an example. One may cut themselves from their depression (with a twisted mindset perhaps like 'I'm a piece of shit, so I'm going to hurt myself because I deserve it as the piece of shit I am.') With that in mind, I wouldn't say someone who cuts themselves from depression would gladly show around their fresh cuts like a trophy, but one may cut themselves and be depressed.

As per your second point, I would relatively disagree with this. Someone with depression might try and fake a smile to fit in socially. However, the faking doesn't always work, especially the longer one fakes it. When someone notices it and says "what's wrong" they may say "fine" for awhile, but they may break down one day and finally say everything that's been going wrong with them. The mere fact that one chooses to let loose on their issues does not mean they are attention seeking. Heck, one who actually is attention seeking it's easier to fake happiness than sadness in my opinion.
In fact, I feel like someone with depression actually deep down wants someone to know how they feel-- they're just ashamed to admit it. The shame may stop someone for awhile, but it doesn't mean they are doomed to never admit their problems.

For your third point, I disagree with this part completely. Sure, it may not be facebook or instagram (since those have possible repercussions in real life), but I'd say many go online because it's the only place they can talk about their issues without feeling shame (anonymously)

[dangerDoge]

Now, there are attention seekers without mental illness. However, I would argue that there is better criteria.

Attentions seekers (without anything wrong them) will...
= Use their current "mental illness" as a trophy, acting almost like it is an achievement they are bragging about.
= Often times be self diagnosed (special cases include people who feel they can't go to someone for diagnosis due to extreme shame... aka they can't go on their own but feel they can't talk to parents or whatever about it)
= Use the mental illness they are claiming without seemingly much depth, care, or knowledge of what it is they are talking about

[FashionQueen86]

To me, the difference between a mental health issue and an attention seeker is that when it comes to mentally ill people, they can't help it. They are trapped in a false or unreliable idea that actually harms them. They TRY to get out, but when you're battling your own mind, sometimes the mind is like an impossible enemy to defeat. You get more frustrated and frustrated, and scared, and angry and it seems like the world is falling in on you.

An attention seeker really has no such problem, but chooses to make it a problem to gain an advantage, like getting people to flock to them and coddle them, worry for them, support them, and feel sorry for them. These types of people crave attention because they want to feel loved, cared for, and thought of. Who knows, maybe even THIS can be a mental health issue, especially if they take it too far and put t themselves in a hole.

When it specifically comes to cutting, and maybe even rape, I think these people a bit cruel to be playing and joking around with that just for attention, becuase there are countless people that are REALLY going through this everyday.

[FallOutBoy2001]

People who fake an illness (mental or physical) almost always have Narccisist Personality Disorder or a Factitious disorder

[FallOutBoy2001]

There are several things wrong with this myTake.

1) yes, many people with mental illness don't want anyone to know. I'm so desperate for people in my life to not know that I refuse to even get a proper diagnosis or let any adult know that I have a problem. I also used to self harm. Was I doing it for attention? Nope. I was doing it because it made me feel better. Because emotional and physical reactions are tied together (think about what rave or anger does to you) self harming can make you feel better. Does it make sense to the average person, that hurting yourself could make you feel better? No. Does it make sense to self-harmers and people who work with them or in the field of psychology? Absolutly.

2) A lot of mental illness have at least one symptom that makes it hard to "act normal" in public; social anxiety is a mental illness where it's almost impossible to act normal in public, for example. I happen to be shy and introverted around new people, and people that I know know that that's just how I am even without a mental illness, as I've grown up having an incredibly hard time around new people, which isn't "normal" (I'm talking "being unable to socialize after being around a lot of people for a while" introvertedness)

3) That's bullshit, plain and simple. Because so many people don't want people in real life to know about their illness, they turn to online help, which is where they can be anoymous and get help. I talk to members on here with mental illness, because they've gone through similar shit and can give me coping tips

[FallOutBoy2001]

Seriously, your experience does not equal everyone's experience

[Alexzktrafied]

Ok. So, like, you realise personality disorders exist?

At the core of HPD is the need for attention basically:

en.m.wikipedia.org/.../Histrionic_personality_disorder

And this Take is predicated on the idea mentally ill people should be ashamed. We don't voice our problems cos of stigma. Calling us attention-seeking contributes to that stigma. Frankly, this is a shit Take.

[EllieLexis513]

As a mentally ill person, I have to disagree with you. No where does it insinuate or suggest that those with a mental illness should be ashamed. But it would be ignorant to think that some people aren't because some are.

[Alexzktrafied]

@EllieLexis513 Read between the lines. If people aren't allowed to talk about their mental health problems for fear of being "attention-seeking", accused of faking, then it implies they should feel ashamed.

[EllieLexis513]

That's not even what the author of this Take. How about you just take it at face value because the author doesn't say we aren't allowed to talk about it for fear of attention seeking. They're saying we just don't volunteer it all the time or mention it all the time. Only attention seekers constantly mention it and bring it up in every situation. I'm not understanding why that's difficult to understand.

[Alexzktrafied]

@EllieLexis513 Because of a person with a personality disorder I constantly face accusation of attention seeking and it is abusive.

[Alexzktrafied]

*As a person with a personality disorder

[RainbowFanGirl]

I agree and disagree. I only tell people I trust about my mental illness. Very few people know I these depressive episodes, and I talk to those trusted people about it for advice on how to cope. That's attention seeking? Attention seeking is when you fake mental illness for attention. I'm not faking. I went to a therapist and was diagnosed. Sometimes I have really severe depressive episodes and need somebody to talk to. They said it's not good to bottle things up like that, as it can end up destroying you.

If you have a problem, talk to a trusted person about it. It can provide a little comfort having someone know about your issue.

[TheButterfly]

If you have PTSD or anxiety or depression or really any mental illness it can be very hard to be "normal" in a social setting. With my anxiety, I dont talk about it, but with my depression, I do. When you have a mental illness it encompases your life, its a demon you can't control (without medication).

[sj2107]

I, as one who has dealt with depression for the better part of my life feel very insulted by this. I hadn't any friends in the past, and as a result I would seek help from people online. Was it the best idea? Nope. But many times when I contemplated a means to an end I would have multiple of my online friends talk me down. I am here today because I talked about my problems.

[Junlian]

Omg, this was good, those who disagree hold no valid argument to why they disagree. They just say things with no reasoning.

[FallOutBoy2001]

We did, you know, outline our reasoning

[Rahdle]

I agree 100%
I wish I could hug everyone who truly feels that way

[Thisperson98]

I actually rarely ever saw someone who has a actual mental illness, try to get attention.

[FakeName123]

Just because YOU have mental issues and don't seek for attention and sympathy doesn't mean taht all people with mental issues do that.

[Dog19]

I disagree with this take

[lime_rampljuset]

You're howsome right.

[Alex88F]

AMEN