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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Aibu to ask if social anxiety disorder 'makes you break the law'

32 replies

Konoha · 27/10/2018 18:01

Relative has Social Anxiety and Depression. Lot's going on with her, won't bore w ith details.
She's always had minor scrapes with authority and whatnot, some would say it was a bit o f rebellion, HOWEVER, a month or so ago she was put in a cell overnight for beating a police officer up, biting another, and smashing another policemans head off his car bonnet whe n he tried to restrain her.
Heard her laughing about it the other day saying ' My social anxiety makes me behave like this'. Im not an expert, but I smell a bit of bs. Aibu for calling her out on this?

OP posts:
TheDayMyButtWentPsycho · 27/10/2018 22:44

She sounds adorable. Hmm

AiryFairyUnicornRainbow · 27/10/2018 22:44

And just because someone is laughing about something , does not mean they genuinely find it funny. it is called putting on a front, a facade, a mask...most people with mental illness do it

Think Robin Williams etc.

Mummyundecided · 27/10/2018 22:46

Sounds like another 'get out of jail card free' to me. The number of people who commit crimes but have 'mental issues' so are dealt with leniently is ridiculous.
No, I think you’ll find that they’re more likely to be treated harshly, generally. (A study has just been published on this, actually.) They're also more likely to be the victims of criminal behaviour.
That said, I don’t think it’s ok, OP. Having a mental illness (or disability) doesn’t excuse behaviour in an adult, but it does means that person needs to find ways to manage themself in a way that’s compatible with the law (at the very least).

MissusLuciferMorningstar · 27/10/2018 22:52

There's a difference between a mental health condition causing a behaviour and someone blaming a behaviour on a condition, diagnosed or not. Trouble is, we're all different, and my bipolar traits are different from others'. It sounds however that she may be manipulating the situation for her own gain, which is unforgivable. It doesn't help the rest of us who don't 'use' our conditions to reap excuses or reward. In fact, it infuriates me.

Xihha · 27/10/2018 22:54

It could be a mental health thing. In the worst point of my own struggles with MH I was an absolute twat and got arrested more than once - never hurt a police officer but did some pretty nasty things. Laughing about it after sounds odd though, unless it was an embarrassed trying to laugh it off maybe. I've also known people through various programmes I was put on who openly admitted to people they were using it as an excuse, so yeah, it could be genuinely due to her MH or it could be an excuse, there isn't really any way to tell.

Konoha · 27/10/2018 23:03

I really don't know what to make of her tbh, she's got progressively 'worse'. Suggesting help falls on deaf ears in my family. about a month or so before the police incident, she battered the shite out of a guy in a restaurant 'because h is laughing annoyed her'. No idea what to do, we grew up really close and despite how I may come across on here it's upsetting to watch this stuff happen.

OP posts:
FingersXssd83 · 28/10/2018 19:06

Sounds like she has complex anger/violence and alcohol issues. She could be experiencing more than anxiety such as PTSD and personality disorder. Surely no one behaves like that who are 'well'.

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