“People say, "I have heart disease," not "I am heart disease." Somehow the presumption of a person's individuality is not compromised by those diagnostic labels. All the labels tell us is that the person has a specific challenge with which he or she struggles in a highly diverse life. But call someone "a schizophrenic" or "a borderline" and the shorthand has a way of closing the chapter on the person. It reduces a multifaceted human being to a diagnosis and lulls us into a false sense that those words tell us who the person is, rather than only telling us how the person suffers.” PeopleWayHumansHeartPersonsSufferingChallengesJusticeHuman BeingsStruggleDiseaseDiversitySocial JusticeIndividualityLabelsDiverseChaptersClosingDiagnosisPresumptionHeart DiseaseSchizophrenicLullsBorderlineShorthand Author:Martha Manning
“I always feel bad laughing at people who act crazy. But sometimes the things they do are so damned funny. I wonder what I'd look like if I slipped a few notches on the mental-health index.” PeopleIfsFeelsLooksSometimesWonderLaughingCrazyDepressionMental HealthIllnessMental IllnessNotches Author:Martha Manning
“I'm getting less good at faking it. People in my family are noticing and asking what's wrong. My friends give me invitations to talk, to cry. I love them for their caring, but I want to run from it. I have lost their language, their facility with words that convey feelings. I am in new territory and feel like a foreigner in theirs.” PeopleWantGivingFeelsFeelingsRunningLostLanguageCryDepressionMy FriendsMy FamilyGive MeAskingIllnessCaringMental IllnessTerritoryInvitationsFacilityForeignersNoticingFaking ItNew Territory Author:Martha Manning
“Depression is such a cruel punishment. There are no fevers, no rashes, no blood tests to send people scurrying in concern. Just the slow erosion of the self, as insidious as any cancer. And, like cancer, it is essentially a solitary experience. A room in hell with only your name on the door.” PeopleSelfNamesRoomsHellDoorsBloodConcernTestsCancerPunishmentSolitaryFeverInsidiousErosionBlood Tests Author:Martha Manning