Why is it wrong to be afraid of mentally ill people?

[beanman12345]

As someone who suffers from schizoaffective disorder there is nothing to be afraid of. I'm not violent, and you don't have to be afraid of me. I am also not the exception to the rule, most of us with schizophrenia are not violent.

We are more scared of you, than you are to us, but I don't think anyone needs to be afraid of us.

[Huulo]

If they are in the prison system - they are guilty. That's how our justice system works. Are there mistakes? Yes. But do we have data to support that the mentally ill are more often wrongfully imprisoned?

I have not made any incorrect assumptions. If there are two people in front of me, one with, one without a mental illness, and only one of them has committed a crime, I would be stupid to not pick the person with a mental illness (provided that is the only variable I am presented with).

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No, being in the prison system does not automatically mean guilt. Also, your faulty reasoning about assuming the person with mental illness has committed the crime shows how a lot of people get falsely arrested.

[Protean]

Thats the dumbest thing i ever heard. You just compared black people to bipolars and schizophrenics.

It's not a comparison when you're doing a substitution to show how flawed a viewpoint is.

This is a lesson you should have learned in highschool or late middleschool.

[Nyoken]

I work with mentally ill people and well you shouldn't be afraid, but you should be cautious. You never really know how someone is gonna react when you're trying to help them, mentally ill or not. I've been in situations when i'm helping someone and everything is fine, and all of a sudden something ticks them off and u become their source of anger and they start attacking you. Like for some people they can't have mirrors in their room because in their mind they have a picture of themselves that is completely different from that which is reflected in the mirror, so when they look into it, they see someone or something else which they don't recognize, and that can be very upsetting or frustrating.

There are a lot of mentally ill people who are wonderful people, people you shouldn't be the least bit afraid of, and then you have those who are very unpredictable, those you should be cautious around :P and finally the unpredictable and dangerous kind....hopefully you won't ever have to meet someone like that.

[Lochton]

As someone who suffers from schizoaffective disorder there is nothing to be afraid of. I'm not violent, and you don't have to be afraid of me. I am also not the exception to the rule, most of us with schizophrenia are not violent.

We are more scared of you, than you are to us, but I don't think anyone needs to be afraid of us.

I can agree fully on this.

[Jonnusthegreat]

No, being in the prison system does not automatically mean guilt. Also, your faulty reasoning about assuming the person with mental illness has committed the crime shows how a lot of people get falsely arrested.

If you are in prison, you have been found guilty. That's how our justice system works. It's not about an assumption, it's about the most likely choice.

[Coffeecat]

Specification wasn't in the proposed question.

Imagine how angry people would be if I suggested because some men rape, then why shouldn't I fear all men? I mean if we aren't specifying...

Except here we've replaced men and rape with mentally ill and violent.

And please don't use "lololol but thats what feminazis do" because you'd be missing the point I was making and it would be a wasted effort.

[THE Bigzoman]

I don't think anyone says it's wrong to be afraid of them. For some mental illnesses, it's fine to be cautious at the very least.

[Jonnusthegreat]

Imagine how angry people would be if I suggested because some men rape, then why shouldn't I fear all men? I mean if we aren't specifying...

Except here we've replaced men and rape with mentally ill and violent.

And please don't use "lololol but thats what feminazis do" because you'd be missing the point I was making and it would be a wasted effort.

It's a valid leap - men are more likely to rape. If you are confronted with a man and a woman and one of them is a rapist, which would you guess? That does NOT mean that it is likely - it is just MORE likely.

[Coffeecat]

It's a valid leap - men are more likely to rape. If you are confronted with a man and a woman and one of them is a rapist, which would you guess? That does NOT mean that it is likely - it is just MORE likely.

Right but mental illness is a term that literally covers hundreds of DIFFERENT disorders. It WAY too broad of a brush stroke, dude. You're saying we should be wary and fearful of a 16-year-old girl who starves herself because her mind has told her she must be thinner.

[chazus]

Who's more likely to be a school shooter? An outgoing jock who parties with his friends or a depressed loner who contemplates suicide every day?

While these things are completely unrelated to the topic you originally presented.

Probably the outgoing jock.

[Huulo]

If you are in prison, you have been found guilty. That's how our justice system works. It's not about an assumption, it's about the most likely choice.

Not even accounting for wrongful conviction, if you are arrested, that does not mean you have been found guilty.

[Coffeecat]

I work with mentally ill people and well you shouldn't be afraid, but you should be cautious. You never really know how someone is gonna react when you're trying to help them, mentally ill or not. I've been in situations when i'm helping someone and everything is fine, and all of a sudden something ticks them off and u become their source of anger and they start attacking you. Like for some people they can't have mirrors in their room because in their mind they have a picture of themselves that is completely different from that which is reflected in the mirror, so when they look into it, they see someone or something else which they don't recognize, and that can be very upsetting or frustrating.

There are a lot of mentally ill people who are wonderful people, people you shouldn't be the least bit afraid of, and then you have those who are very unpredictable, those you should be cautious around :P and finally the unpredictable and dangerous kind....hopefully you won't ever have to meet someone like that.

Lol I have BDD. Where the hell are you people getting this idea that like if I'm upset when I glance in the mirror I'm like gonna snap and stab my whole family to death? Holy sh*t the amount of hysteria and fear propoganda and misinformation here. What actually happens is I get frustrated with the dissonance, struggle with my self image, and get fillers sometimes at the dermatologist. Sometimes I'll even talk to my therapist about it!

Very scary, I know. It's almost like you guys think people without illnesses don't get upset or frustrated and end up venting that sometimes. Me being in a bad mood because I hate my face is really, really not the same thing as feeling homicidal rage or psychosis. But you're painting us all under the "danger murderous out of control" brush stroke.

When someone with mental illness is upset and acts out it's because they're crazy and dangerous; when someone without mental illness is upset and acts out it's because they were upset. /s

All this thread is really doing is showing that there is still an incredible amount of misunderstanding when it comes to mental illness.

Edit: I decided to add a little more information about my experience with BDD since I think this could maybe be an opportunity to help the OP and others feel a bit more empathy. In kindergarten, I came home and complained to my mother that I did not "look like the other girls". That is when it started. I can't imagine the emotional and physical abuse I experienced later in life helped very much, either. Intellectually I understand that I am not monstrous or abnormal in appearance, men and women and strangers would tell me I am beautiful throughout my life and objective appraisal of my own face tells me I think I should be considered attractive according to science (large eyes, clear skin, full lips, small chin, gentle/round face, etc), but my mind eye shows me something that is grotesque. I don't literally see some vile creature but that is what I think. No amount of compliments have ever gotten through to me. I don't hear them. I don't believe them. They're just noise when there is one clear loud voice that tells me I am disgusting. That shows me nothing but every flaw. I feel like something that desperately wants to look human but doesn't and everyone can tell and they are peering at this gross alien when they look at me. Of course this is when it's at it's absolute worst. Medication and therapy have beaten my demon back and it's weak. I do have mirrors in my house (there's two manifestations people with BDD have w/ mirrors and it can switch; total avoidance or obsessive appraisal, and I would do both) because I do attempt to dress and appear good and I also don't think it would be healthy for me to act as if mirrors were the enemy. But you can't ever really kill the damned thing.

But perhaps now you can understand why people who already feel 'other' despite not wanting to would be further hurt by being treated as such.

I am at war with myself. There is no energy, time, inclination, or even a remote desire to hurt somebody else. The idea is abhorrent to me. I couldn't keep watching "Westworld" because they way they treated the androids so horribly it made me feel ill and I would cry.

The worst thing my closest people have to deal with is just hearing me talk down about myself. Which I know is painful to hear someone you love hate themselves so much sometimes and I know it can also be frustrating as it seems endless, but in no way does this translate into being like a wild unpredictable animal...

[Jonnusthegreat]

Right but mental illness is a term that literally covers hundreds of DIFFERENT disorders. It WAY too broad of a brush stroke, dude. You're saying we should be wary and fearful of a 16-year-old girl who starves herself because her mind has told her she must be thinner.

I'm not - I'm simply answering the question in the OP.

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Not even accounting for wrongful conviction, if you are arrested, that does not mean you have been found guilty.

Incarceration rates account for the guilty.

[Huulo]

if you attempt to kill somebody you are locked up

they don't wait until you murder somebody before locking you up

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That would be a crime. People should be locked up for crimes, not for mental illness.

[Guardian Bob]

This argument could be made about Black people and it would be equally fucked up. You're generalizing an entire group because of a minority. Something isn't right with you man.

I've dealt with mentally ill people and I will make sure to keep a good distance from them. I don't care what people think, you just never know when they're going to flip out. Someone I know used to teach them, and once in a while they get violent and they even hurt her back.

[craigw]

it is not wrong to be afraid of a mentally ill person at all. depends on the mental illness. psychosis is an extremely disturbing mental illness and caution should be high when around and treating them. if a mentally person has been off meds for weeks or months they can be a cause for concern. mental illness is such a broad category as there are nearly 300 forms of mental illness. should you be afraid of someone with depression? no. should you be afraid of a schizo? no. afraid of bi polar? no however these 3 mental illness if patients are off meds for long periods of time can be a danger to themselves and others. nearly all mentally ill patients who maintain treatment and take meds regularly are completely non violent, statistically it is safer to be around them than "normal" humans. and being "afraid" usually amounts to just being cautious around them (only if caution is needed) and not fearing for your life afraid. I would be cautious around someone with capgras syndrome, alien hand syndrome, and psychosis. but out of the nearly 300 mental illnesses the vast majority outcomes involve hurting yourself not others.

[Najnaj]

A dysfunctional brain in control of a 150 pound murder machine is dangerous no matter how you spin it.

What about a drama queen in charge of a 150Lb bag of nonsense?

[Sorcath]

"I'm just asking why it would be wrong to demonize and lock them up."

The funny difference between a murderer and an autistic kid is that one has the ability to decide what will trigger them. Lol Soft hearts dodge reality.

[Deleted]

What we really need to do is re-open asylums for the insane, instead of letting them walk amongst us where they are a danger for society and themselves.