(FYI : I am not mentally ill)
Should we be kind to Mentally ILL people?
by asilentone 23 Replies latest jw experiences
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wasblind
Yes, and for the hard to deal with we apply patience
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tec
Of course.
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leavingwt
You should try to be kind to everyone.
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Markfromcali
Sure it's not what you're looking for, but on the general topic..
It kind of depends on the illness. From what I understand the typical goal of therapy is to reinforce the ego structure, but I can see that in a larger social context if someone was doing a lot of harm to others, and even considered healthy or high functioning in some sense it may be appropriate to do the opposite - not the opposite of being kind, but the opposite of reinforcing the ego. The thing with that is if you simply wound it there will be adaptations and defenses etc. and could very well be counter productive in the end, so the only way that it would work is probably if you basically destroy it in a kind of sudden movement, which would be very disorienting and one would be left less than functional at least for a while. It is also possible for a certain portion of someones mindset to just fall apart suddenly, but as you can imagine it's not something easily done and you certainly wouldn't be able to do it if you saw people in a stereotypical way. The thing is from this kind of perspective, you may be aware of the ego dynamics, in fact probably more so but to see people in the same way they do would be myopic.
Not sure if this is of any interest. Why do you ask?
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Satanus
Most street people have some kind of mental illness. That's why they end up there, cuz they are mentally sick and are unable hold a job, follow societal norms. Often, they resort to self medication, commonly called addicts. So, you could ask the question, should we be kind to street people. I think that we should, as far as we are able. Of course, that doesn't mean that you should trust them, as in letting them into your home, although i have done that w some.
It's interesting to see the radically different way that street people are viewed in different cities. For instance, in montreal, they are almost fond of them, and many of them make a good living. In calgary, they are seen as a dispicable eyesore, lazy trash that doesn't want to work. Funny, since calgary is bible belt, the heart of jesus country.
S
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Markfromcali
In view of that, there is the question of enabling their addiction or any other unhealthy behavior, maybe this is what asilentone was getting at. Being kind is something that's very general, without understanding or even knowing anything specific not much can be said.
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asilentone
Mark, why did I ask that question? Well, someone emailed me recently, it is painfully obvious that person is mentally ill and the people in the congregation was not exactly helping her much, thats all of the details that I am going to provide.
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Markfromcali
I see. Well you can be kind without reinforcing their delusions, in the case of JWs it probably doesn't fit into or works well with their delusions, especially if there is an irrational distrust of mental health professionals. I once knew a bro from another country that was married to someone that had issues, it seems clear there are not many who are thoughtful and understanding if nothing else, even if there are meds prescribed which they end up not taking - it just seems to be the way of the JW culture.
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Inkie
To WHOM should one NOT be kind? I mean really?