To ask about mental health

[m0therofdragons]

Dh and I were having a conversation sparked by a local news story where neighbours are up in arms about a woman in her late 40s who lives differently to them. She's safe and not being annoying in conventional ways but she appears to approach life differently to the "norm" while not harming anyone. Locals seem to want her to where pearls and attend WI or similar.

All over the comments where people challenging her mental health.

The question that came up though was at what point does someone go from being eccentric to having mental health problems? It feels like if you behave or think differently to others then you have to have something wrong with you or if you worry (often about stuff that is likely to cause worry) you have anxiety.

I'm absolutely not saying people don't have MH issues but sometimes it feels (in my RL bubble) that everyone has MH issues and no one is allowed to feel anything extreme or be quirky or different without being labelled on the spectrum.

So Aibu to ask where the line is? Do eccentric people exist anymore?

Auto correct problem with the words were and wear coming up as where. I do know the difference. Proof reading fail!

Eccentricity certainly exists. Sometimes people use the word to describe children and adults with autism, but neither are a MH thing.

The woman you refer to must be extraordinarily eccentric to have a whole community commenting though.

Hoarding, exhibitionism, unusual aggression can all be manifestations of mental illness. What is she doing that has made it a local news story?

Mental illness and neurodiversity ('being on the spectrum') are two different things. Sometimes experienced at the same time but nevertheless separate.

YANBU- I've also observed a great deal or armchair psychologists 'diagnosing' people with quirky, eccentric and sometimes (sadly) downright antisocial behaviour as being autistic/ bipolar/ 'schizo' (boak) and it's lazy, inaccurate, ill-informed and occasionally dangerous. People can be unconventional (or total assholes) without this being symptomatic of any mental illness or neurodiversity.

The woman you refer to must be extraordinarily eccentric to have a whole community commenting though.

We're in the West Country. Once I bought a new car and was the talk of the village because it was turquoise (it was a Renault Clio) so whole community commenting doesn't mean much.

She's keeping a horse in her home and using the common land opposite in the day. Horse is healthy and RSPCA are amused but happy re its care.

Dd1 is quirky and I've had people give her labels. She's a bit of a worrier but doesn't have "anxiety" she isn't the most aware dc socially but not "autistic". Both have been mentioned by people with no actual knowledge.

This may be why it irked me. Dd is quirky and I love it and her refusal to follow the crowd.

I realise MH and autism are obviously different but diagnosis of both seem to fly around here all the time. A dc can't just find school work tricky or have a tantrum without a diagnosis.