People mocking mentally ill people in public (warning, not nice to read)

[Autumnlife678]

The other day I was on a bus and a woman got on, she was shouting lots of stuff about how we're all evil and we should all die etc. She was clearly very unwell.

But what was so upsetting was the reaction of other passengers. A few people laughed, and a couple of other people started arguing with her, telling her to shut up etc. They were being very sneery and ridiculing her.

I wish I'd spoken up myself and told these other passengers to shut up themselves, but it might have escalated into a bigger argument. So I just sat there and quietly said something to the woman next to me about how awful it was that people have such a lack of compassion. She agreed with me, but I wish I'd spoken up and told these other passengers to shut up themselves.

I know these things have been going on for a long time, but considering all the publicity and speaking up about mental health that there's been over the past few years, I would've liked to have thought people wouldn't still react this way. How awful that people can be so nasty. A serious illness can happen to anyone.

I understand whay you mean, however it isn't pleasant being told you are evil and deserve to die etc, as well

I do think people with MH problems need to try and get treated for them as well. Which is tricky I know as it can come with a lack of self awareness.

When people refer to 'mental health', they really mean 'emotional well-being'. When faced with someone who is probably having a psychotic episode they don't register it as an illness or disability and that kindness and compassion would be a more appropriate response instead of laughing at or berating the person. Some people are just immature, thick or a combination of the two.

Okay where do I start. The recent publicity we have had in recent years has only just touched the surface, in that, it’s the garden variety mental illnesses that are socially acceptable. It’s okay to be depressed or anxious. It’s okay to have conditions like OCD. It’s okay not to be okay. It’s NOT okay to have severe mental Illness whereby you have psychosis, or you lose touch with reality and the attitudes of those people on the bus proved that.

What I will say is, those people on that bus never know what their future has in store. The boundaries between sanity and insanity can actually be surprisingly slim. All we need is a trigger for our own personal capacity to cope with mental illness and we could quite easily lose the plot. I’ve known people to suffer psychosis after experiencing severe stress that is usually quite unusual over the course of a lifetime. For example, a child death, severe unexpected trauma, divorce or any number of things that could potentially overload our psyches to the point whereby we cannot cope any longer.

I would judge those people for being naive as well as lacking in empathy.

Sounds a bit like MN

Yes, this!
'Mental Health Awareness' seems to actually be limited to low level depression and anxiety. The sort of stuff your GP and some meds can sort.
That is not to diminish the experiences of the people who experience that....
But to see the constant campaigns about mental health, when they really mean mild depression and anxiety. it takes the piss.
Where are the awareness campaigns about people with severe and enduring MH... like schizophrenia and bipolar?
If you see someone acting up in public.. chances are, that person has either one of those illnesses... yet we only see videos of them when people are laughing and taking the piss out of them.

Was she ill or was she drunk or even on drugs? I have zero sympathy for drug takers especially if they become abusive.

People react differently to aggressiveness, some even laugh as its a form of self soothing if they are scared.

Exactly, I assumed she had schizophrenia or something of that level. It must be very scary for her and I'm shocked that people are so naive and uneducated.

She wasn't drunk. Drugs, I have no idea, but even if that was the case, drug addiction is no laughing matter.

People can be such arseholes and lack empathy and compassion.

Seconded.

It’s an absolute nightmare trying to get mental health support, first of all the ability to recognise the need for help, then feeling able to ask for help then once you do want to access support it’s not exactly forthcoming.

Was she ill or was she drunk or even on drugs? I have zero sympathy for drug takers especially if they become abusive.

Worth bearing in mind that a lot of drug addicts end up that way because they're trying to self-medicate. That could be due to MH issues, or truly horrific experiences in childhood.

I don't know. It is very scary to be confronted by someone raging and screaming. How do you know they are harmless? I go through lots of deprived areas of London on public transport and often witness irrational people verbally abusing their fellow passengers. It's extremely unsettling and a horrible thing to experience. Surely you know not everyone is equipped to deal with abusive irrational behaviour?

We don't know they're harmless, and that's another reason why it's not a good idea to pick an argument with them.

I can't remember the last time I caught a bus, Heathrow Long Term I think, 2015.

Yes! See also: the Mental Health board on here, if you look at the url on that page, you can see the title designated by mumsnet for the Mental Health chat topic: "feeling depressed"

I sometimes laugh when I’m nervous or afraid.

I agree with previous posters: psychotic illness is still horribly stigmatized.

This ^^

I do understand that it can be frightening encountering someone with severe mental illness but that's no reason to be cruel

Can be good to phone police and report asap if someone is really clearly unwell and clearly vulnerable. May need to be taken to be assessed. Just fyi as relevant to the post.

No one knows how they would react and you certainly can’t judge them for it. If someone was yelling at me saying I was evil and I should die then yes I wonder respond. Without knowing that person is mentally ill and neither do you then I’d think that person is on drugs or absolutely disgusting. If someone’s that bad out in public then they need a carer. Imagine if that person was shouting at your child its not on. I would absolutely call the police .

Bipolar isn't always severe. That's one of the reasons why I never disclose.

I work full time in a professional job. I've never self harmed, attempted suicide or had proper psychosis. Never been hospitalised.

I take a low dose if lithium and go to therapy.

Bipolar is on a spectrum like autism.

Last weekend, a mentally ill woman sitting at the bus stop outside a major shopping mall in London lifted up her dress repeatedly (she had no underwear on). Somebody called the Police, two male officers turned up and spent all of three minutes trying to get her to agree to get into their vehicle (which she never). She shouted about her ex husband at full volume (interspersed by actual screaming) and provided obviously false contact details. They told her that she was "doing a good job" and drove away. That is how much they seem to care nowadays.

That’s so sad 😞 I know it’s not always helpful.

I once had a psychotic episode after emergency surgery in a general hospital ward. Thought the doctors were trying to kill me, meds were poisons etc

Found the nurses totally didn't understand, laughed etc, which just made it worse.