Obviously if you're here you believe mental illness is real.  How do you deal with people who don't?  I came across an article the other day entitled "Dear Tom Cruise: Meet My Daughter" [link].  I personally thought that was the best possible title for an anti-stigma article: edgy, current, and true.  I have nothing against the skeptics, just as long as they don't interfere with my treatment.  I work at an anti-suicide clinic, and we get bombarded with anti-psych mail.  This doesn't particularly bother me, as I enjoy using the paper shreader. 

But my father seems to be an anti-psych sympathizer.  He's gotten into shouting matches with my therapist, made fun of my illness, and accused my psychiatrist of being a con man.  It's sometimes kind of comical, actually.  But lately he's taken to criticizing my summer reading work, which wouldn't be a problem except that one of my worst obsessions has been with studying.  Every time he says 'You're not gettin into college with that laziness!' it just kind of strikes a chord with me.  I tell him that this is counterproductive to my treatment, but since he doesn't believe in psychiatry, he thinks I'm just faking my illness in order to avoid my work... which really doesn't make any sense seeing as I spent 3 years studying nonstop. 

Wow.  This turned into quite a rant.  Sorry about that!  Has anyone else had to deal with an anti-psych family member? 

My father is kind of like that too. While he admits that there is something truly wrong with me (I've had symptoms of OCD since I was a little kid, so he knows I'm not faking it), he thinks my therapist is a quack and that psychology for the most part is a bunch of bullcrap anyway. He just thinks I'm not working hard enough on it to get rid of it myself. He's settled down a bit now, but things were TERRIBLE last year when I finally admitted that I wanted to seek help.

And the worst part of it all (in my opinion)? I want to go into psychology, and he's accused me of wanting to go into it because I'm lazy and it's 'easy'. Because 6 to 8 years of school is definitely an easy load compared to the 4 years of business school you wanted me to go to!

Tom Cruise is an idiot. I think he should come down with a mental illness just so he can feel what it's like.
 

Sabrinita:

My father ... thinks my therapist is a quack and that psychology for the most part is a bunch of bullcrap anyway. He just thinks I'm not working hard enough on it to get rid of it myself.

And the worst part of it all (in my opinion)? I want to go into psychology, and he's accused me of wanting to go into it because I'm lazy and it's 'easy'. 
 

Well, the only people that do know about my OCD are my dad, one of my two brothers, and some of my friends and, except for my dad, they make fun of me about it. My brother did help me get over my obsession with trying to not forget things. I would always say remember in my head and everytime someone said forget I would stop in the middle of what I was doing and wait for someone to say another word. My brother stood on top of me one day and said, "forget""forget" like twenty times and I got so nervous that I nearly couldnt sleep that night. But a few days later, that obsession was gone. My friends, on the other hand, annoy me by saying, "Just another freak with O.C.D" everytime I do something weird. My uncles and other family members all tell me that I'm lazy and I don't anything and I need to get a job. They don't understand how much pressure school is and how much pressure maintaing a 98 average is. If i ever told them I had OCD and what they say bothers me, they would just think that my parents did something wrong and blame them or say I'm just an idiot, which would bother me even more. Sometimes it feels that no one understands what i go through, and they think they do just because they see tapping things six times and blinking constantly and then they crtiticize me, but they won't understand.

 After I was first diagnosed, I read up on the different perspectives about mental health and anti-psych was one of them. I think their ideas about being wary about whether or not a mental health diagnosis is trying to make you conform to social expectations is of value.  Unfortunately, I think they frequently go too far in picking and choosing what they pay attention to and what they ignore to remain consistent with their own ideology. If we can keep in mind that a diagnosis is a tool that we can use to improve our lives rather than a judgment by society, we'll be much better off. We can still determine what our goals are and work with mental health professionals to achieve them. Sometimes it can be difficult when our symptoms get so severe that we lose touch with our everyday reality and react in ways that are  harmful to ourselves and others. This can be a very sensitive subject, especially when we're first diagnosed as the people who care for us don't always recognize how severe our issues are and would rather deny their existence. Many people have preconceived ideas about what a mental health diagnosis means and have bought totally into the anti-psych perspective without really understanding or openly examining the treatment benefits we can receive from psychiatry. Perhaps for some people it's less scary to believe we're just lazy or have some other character fault than to believe our brains and other body systems can become dis-regulated. It's good to ask questions and be skeptical about treatments you're receiving  or that are proposed for you, but being in total denial can cut you off from options that may benefit you. Hopefully our loved ones can suspend their disbelief/anti-psych thoughts long enough to recognize that we need to be able to make decisions about what's best for us which won't always be the same as theirs.

 I think taking care of ourselves as best we can and searching for what's effective for us from both health professionals and other sources leading to our improved health will be the best answer for the anti-psych skeptics in our lives.
 

I know. I am so afraid to tell my friends because people with OCD have a bad rep at my school. SO many awful jokes about us. Someone even jokingly said to me once when I cleaned something up or whatever "OCD much?" I was soooo offended. I made a face but the girl took it as mock offense, not real offense.  Luckily, the people I have really opened up to have supported me as best they can, even if they can't totally relate.