(Warning: Rant and strong languages in this article)
Over the last couple of months, I've experienced two different events
related with mental illness. The first one was the movie Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix with Todd Phillips as the director.
The other was the shocking news of the apparent suicide of Choi Jin-ri,
otherwise known as Sulli formerly of K-Pop Girl band f(x). What makes Arthur
Fleck and Sulli similar are they both suffer some sort of a mental condition.
Arthur was described as a schizophrenic failed comedian who had a tendency to
burst out laughing in an inappropriate timing, while Sulli fought depression
from constant hate attacks, as well as her Social Anxiety Disorder. Another one
why both cases are also one the same is the overall response from the society.
Both Arthur and Sulli were bullied to some extent. Sulli received those bullies
online, while Arthur was constantly ignored and singled out. These two
different events gave me an apparent perception that most people either have no
clue of the case, or just being totally ignorant.
Every human being is born with different physical features and different
ways of thinking. And everyone might have different mindsets that not
necessarily have to match with yours or mine. Some even develop different
mental conditions that otherwise is not shown visually, and can only be
discovered with a medical diagnosis. I personally was diagnosed with Attention
Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which is a mental condition that
emphasizes in either inattentive behaviors like lack of focus and constantly
forgetting small details, or hyperactivity like fidgeting, impulsivity and a
constant urge to move. This condition may cripple me to some extent, like over-focusing
a big task at hand, or even missing a small chore that I supposed to do. Other
instances of this are my time awareness, either procrastinating or an urge to
do something in the shortest period of time. Another condition that eerily
similar to mine is Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Like the name suggests,
this condition mainly affects someone's ability to either socialize,
communicate and the way they behave. Because it's a spectrum type, two children
that have this condition are not always the same. Some are classified as high
functioning autism; that can blend in just fine with the society, with some
aspects that might distract them like noise sensitivity and their spatial
awareness. Others can range from mild to severe, with symptoms like speech
delay and restriction of behavioral patterns (mostly showed by constant
repetition of words or specific activities). A non-verbal autistic is mostly
known for their inability to communicate verbally, so when they have an urge of
something or to express their discontent, they usually trying to get the
message across by other forms of communication, such as shouting, pointing at
things or even hurting themselves to get the point across. Some people, kid or
adult have some sort of over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity of some of their
senses. These disorders may not visible on the outside, but every single one
that is affected with these two, including myself are facing constant battle
against ourselves everyday.
Sulli was suffered from Social Anxiety Disorder, which is a type of
mental condition that may affect someone's ability inside a social situation.
Someone with SAD might suffer symptoms of lack self-esteem, blushing, sweating,
trembling, even nausea. Overall, they have a phobia of inserting themselves
into many situations that involved a specific group. On the other hand someone
can be diagnosed with schizophrenia if they can no longer draw the line between
fantasy and reality. A schizophrenic person often hears voices inside their
head, fabricating illusions, and pulled him or herself from the society. They
perceive these voices and illusions as the reality.
Those are just some of many mental conditions that existed during the
course of human history. While some may relate to those with said disorders,
some just don't give a single shiny fuck about that same group. In the era of
social media, people who are posting about coming out or consider to post about
coming out as the person with a mental condition, the internet could instantly
judge that individual as an attention seeker, or even the more harsh term,
social climber. These poor souls are just wanted to find someone to channel
their frustrations or someone who is a good listener. And to be honest, this
shit has happened way too many times I couldn't count how many of those. Some
even said along the lines of "you look fine to me, don't pretend that you
have something wrong" of course they actually have something wrong with
themselves, you ignorant bastards! What these guys need is love and affection,
instead of bullying and hostility. They need support and encouragement, not
shunning and more humiliation. Just because those guys belong to a neurotypical
society, they suddenly have every goddamn right in the world to judge what is
perfect according to their own fucking taste. Hell, when I first tell my
friends at college that I have ADHD, one of them even has the guts to say
"We have a little bit of autism too." Now listen here, you little
shit! This is not some sort of a laughingstock for you to indulge. This is real
and happening around us. When you find a guy who couldn't focus during a class,
don't instantly brand them as idiots. Better still, if you see someone crying
without any reason or seeing him/her frowning. Ask them why. Listen to their
story, because every thing we experience must have a reason. I finally
understand why these poor souls resorted to suicide when trying to cope with
the illness. Because there are too many ignorant fuckers who just want to watch
they suffer. Because they are too scared to open up, because they know they
might get bullied instead of getting help, and because some of these heartless
dickheads are willing to keep on tormenting them.
In Indonesia, people with these disorders like depression, among others
are considered as having the lack of faith, and they are not grateful enough.
They even say that they should pray more. Let me tell you this, praying and
other religious activities have nothing to do with metal disorders. Even the
most religious person can even experience depression. Constant bullying is also
in common either by online comments or verbal and physical harassment.
"You are just someone with no life" and "what the fuck are you
trying to say? Depression? More like you need God" are some of the phrases
these ignorant assholes often said to someone who came out as someone with
mental illness. Some even tied this with witchcraft. Hey smartass! There is no
spells or any other magic bullshit that can cause depression! They have it
either from constant shunning or having too many problems to think for their
own good. And when they found out that the same person they bully everyday was
found dead by suicide, they even said along the lines of "let that fucker
burn in hell because he killed himself" or "suicide, what a
weakling" among many other lines. Or they can just become the biggest
hypocrite in the world by saying "I only said that for fun" and
"I didn't know that he actually took that seriously." Yeah. Fun.
Apparently your definition of fun is tormenting other people with mental issues
to the point of suicidal. Congratulations, you just earn yourself a spot in my
hit list for being the biggest douchebag ever lived. You should be proud of
yourself (when I say proud, it means you should be ashamed of yourself and you
should consider to start atoning to your sins, you motherfucker).
Okay. Enough ranting and proceed with the next thing. If you are the ones
that don't know about anything related to mental illnesses, feel free to plunge
yourself into the depths of the Internet, or visit a nearby psychiatrist to get
some useful info. If you have a friend that struggles with any type of
illnesses mentioned way above, help them, or get them to the nearest
psychiatrist in your neighborhood. They need all the support they can get at
this point. And if you are the one suffering from those conditions; don't keep
those thoughts to yourself. Get some help. Find someone to talk to. You are
going to need every bit of support from your loved ones. If you are going to
get some treatment, just take it. It could be in form of a therapy or some
medications. It might not be able to make you fully recovering from that
particular condition, as it is a chronic disease, but it will help you to cope,
adapt and eventually live with it. Or if you are one of those heartless
motherfuckers who know this and choose to be ignorant and bully them at the
same time, well I have just seven words in a sentence to tell you. Shut the
fuck up and get lost! We don't want anybody messing around their head and
traumatize these poor guys.
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