Someone just reminded me of this one, for stuff ppl with #depression hate hearing: "Cheer up! A lot of people have it way worse than you do, you know!"
I got that from the intake social worker the one & only time I went to the ER for mental health help. I was far into crisis, going through SSRI withdrawal & a bunch of other severe symptoms I won't go into here. "Nervous breakdown" isn't a clinical term, but it's a pretty good descriptor of what was going on.
The social worker told my then-SO that I "needed a vacation". She told me that I "needed to get some perspective" & compared me to the people they actually had in their PBMU at the time - I was too coherent to be admitted, she said. & that was that. They sent me home.
I never actually saw the psychiatrist on call. And I will never, EVER go back to the ER if I'm in crisis again. Fuck that.
That's the time when we're supposed to be able to stand up & be at our most effective, to have enough energy & time & thought to be able to fight a system that would seriously rather we just die.
I don't know how anyone does it. I've always had terrible trouble. & I think I've just been lucky sometimes, because I've gotten some good care & it's almost by accident.
I seriously wish I'd known about eFeedbacks way back then. Or that I'd had the chutzpah to report her.
But that's the thing: I didn't. Because ppl expect that ppl w/mental health conditions will advocate for ourselves. But we often *can't*. How can we, when we're at our very worst? When we haven't slept for days, can't think straight, have no energy, can't focus?