Crap that Moms With Mental Illness Don't Need to Hear

Image by Okan Caliskan from Pixabay

These are some responses of mine to a post on The Mighty about crap that mothers with mental illness end up hearing a lot.

I can't count the number of times when I heard "what are you complaining about, a lot of people have it worse than you do" and "just stop thinking like/acting like that." Gosh, what a brilliant plan! Wish I'd thought of it!

I have type 2 bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder with hoarding features. My issues weren't even correctly diagnosed until I was almost 40. My son is currently helping me clear out a storage unit that was costing more than $300 a month to maintain.

My undiagnosed mental health issues almost destroyed my relationship with my son, who is now 28. Fortunately, I was able to take steps to repair our relationship.

One that isn't on this list is the old "you just need to go to church and pray more" bit. I came from a religious family and I heard this a lot. I also heard that bipolar disorder was a sign of demon possession. This kind of crap doesn't help, not one single bit.

I had a complicated pregnancy and non-progressive labor where my cervix stuck at 3 cm but I was having contractions like someone who was fully dilated. My son and I almost died. Two months after he was born, my mother said: "well, now you'll have to work on giving him a little brother or sister." I stared at her, gobsmacked, and said: "tell you what, Ma, you have it, I'll raise it."
For once in her life, she got the message the first time and never brought the subject up again. I guess miracles really are possible.

~Cie~