Why are some people so against depression or mental illness when it's so common?

I don't feel like they should be put down or left out in any way. But, it seems like and I've seen it before that some people look down on them and sometimes even put them at fault and it's just so sad.

It's not their fault, they didn't do anything to cause it.

Depression can happen to anyone and it's very common more common then we think. One out of every 5 people have it.

So, if it's so common then why do some people tend to sweep it under the carpet and expect people to live by society's standards like perfect people?

Their's no such thing as perfect, we all have our problems wether we want to admit it or not.

many people are afraid of what they don't understand
others secertly have a fear this too is their problem and just don't want to admit it
others lump all mental illness into one category and see people who have these difficulties as just weak or too lazy to pull themselves up by the boot straps
also it is almost 'hidden' as a disease, we can see a broken leg, but not always a broken mind ---- it is the same thing, both can be cured through the correct interventions
some people are just ignorant and believe they are above anything like this happening to them! so sad, because it could so easily happen to them or a loved one----then their attitudes change quiclky!

From what I have seen... some people just don't understand it. They think depression is like when the average person gets a little sad. I think that people think this is what depression is, but the person seems to make it into a bigger deal. Many people can't understand any mental illness until they have suffered through it on their own or through a loved one.

This is why I want to work on mental health advocacy. People just need to learn more about it.

They fear it, don't understand it or don;t accept it becasue of all the uncertainity of the disease.....it's not like a broken leg, or some physical illness, and peopel are scared because so much is unknown about the casue, they know that they have no control over whether they fall victim to the disorders, so they pretend or better, lie to themselves to think if I don't sccept it's existence or anything, it can't happen to me......

Because the very people who are putting them down have never experienced depression. They have an efficient dopamine or "reward" system in their brain which enables them to enjoy everyday things like depressed people often don't.

They do not appreciate that people have neurological differences - or an ENVIRONMENT that is ******* up. People who have been beaten down tend to get depressed. It is human nature. But some people have no clue.

I know excatly what you mean! Kids at my school are like that and they usually end up excluding people who have problems like depression or anything else that doesn't fit the mold of our "perfect" society. I however am literally the only popular girl in my entire school who is excepting of everyone. That is a sad truth.

It's because some people in this world are *** holes.
They think depression is just feeling "down in the dumps" and miserable all the time.. well its a hell lot more to that. Only someone who has suffered a mental illness can understand the meaning of it and how someone feels when they have it.
So that my dear is why some people are "against" depression and other mental illness's as you say...
They just don't understand. Trust me, one day they'll realize what a horrible, horrible thing it is.. :)

The answer is: ignorance. Not stupidity, ignorance.

People with no experience with mental disorders do not understand that they are beyond the control of those who suffer from them.

It's getting better, though. There is more understanding now than there was twenty or more years ago.

Because depression is often from social disorder caused by social controls many believe you become mentally ill as a punishment form your group.

because it's so easy to give an excuse of depression to mask other behavorial problems....

The available meds are not the greatest answer either.

uneducated

they are scared of the unknown

exactly my mom wont let me have my pills so i wont be a freak

I think people are afraid of other people who are "mad." They think that they are making up just to get attention and they also think they can just shrug it off. I myself am schizoaffective and it would be impossible for me to shrug off the hallucinations and all the other stuff that happens. I do have a supportive family which really helps, but what is well known with any disease whether it be mental or physical is that if you don't have it you don't know what it's like. People think that ignornance is bliss when it comes to understanding mental illness.

1) There has been a stigma against mental illness for a long, long time. People have equated it with weakness or evil. Even now, attitudes are changing, but there is still a lot of stigma. Some conditions come off worse than others, for example, people are more likely to be accepting of depression that schizophrenia or psychosis.

2) People are more embarrassed about things that go wrong with the mind than things that go wrong with the body for some reason. Partly stemming from the reason above, but also people are embarrassed about talking about what's going on in their minds. Telling someone you have depression is really quite an intimate thing. In just that one word you're telling them al sorts of things depending on their personal perception of the word. That makes it harder for people to be open about it, so it remains hidden.

3)People just genuinely find it difficult to understand things that they haven't personally experienced. Say someone goes through a bad time in their life, some kind of trauma, and inevitably feels down, distressed or whatever, but eventually comes out of it. Then they see someone who doesn't really have anything obvious wrong with them moping around, unable to cope with life. Well, obviously they're going to compare that to their own experience, and some would think "Well, I got over it, why can't they? They just need to pull themselves together." Some people can empathise with situations they haven't experienced; others can't.

Exactly. Not everyone wants to understand or don't have a laid back attitude about it. I do have a laid back attitude about it and if I need something(and I have) I will be the first to the doctor. But I know of someone who needs it and they said they didn't like the medication because it made them have short term memory loss and they were taken advantage of at work-because they were so medicated. This person is very short tempered and fly's off the handle over the littlest things so after the medication made this person feel like that, they gave up and get irate if I bring it up. What do you do? We aren't perfect and anyone who claims to be, is lying!

A lot of people think depression is the sign of a weak minded person. When in all reality it's the exact opposite.

I agree with you, it's a shame that we have this many uneducated or should I say ignorant people making these accusations.
Unfortunately we can't make them understand this until it happens to them or someone they love.

I myself have depression and although I never understood how it worked, I would have never criticized anyone for it. I think a lot of it is how a person is raised. We were not born prejudice were we taught it. Because they were raised this way may have some kind of mental problems them selves. They will also probably never get the help they need.

I commend you for understanding this and if you have a problem yourself, just know it's not your fault no matter what the rest of them say.

Take care and don't give up!

Lol, I thought you were describing those ppl at first. I look down on ppl who are prejudice and I do consider that largely their fault. Attitude and ignorance can be changed if one chooses.

Ppl have the attitudes that you describe towards mental illnesses for many reasons. Historically, the mentally ill were considered demons and the source of all evil. Then we were considered embarassments to be shuffled off to insane assylums partly because of the earlier beliefs. Then we were considered to be psych cases and not medical. Now, science is catching up and as research progresses there is a growing body of science documenting physical changes in the brain that are moving some mental illnesses closer to being neurological diseases than psychological disorders (schizophrenia and bipolar in particular). Some ppl, however, don't know much about where science is.

Some ppl believe every thing is the will of God and if God makes you nuts, then you are paying for some sin.

Some ppl need to believe everything is within a person's control. If someone is mentally ill, then surely they have a weak character and chose to be. The idea that life is not controllable is very scary to these ppl. Too much of the need to control is mentally unhealthy and can be a sign of... a disorder, btw. ;)

Except for psychosis, mental illnesses are really just extreme versions of ordinary emotions and thinking. For example, some ppl believe that their ordinary sadness is depression so they can't understand why it's such a big deal to others.

And then there are the ppl who are so far into judging that anyone who does not live up to their standard is inferior and to be disregarded. Of course, mentally ill easily falls at or near the bottom of the heap. The irony is that the more excessively a person does this, the closer they are to having a mental disorder.

Long enough.

I think the answer to this is many-fold. Some things to consider are... Well first of all, most people fear the unknown. Mental illness isn't always easily recognizable or understandable, like a physical problem (a broken arm or black eye). Many people fear what they don't know how to fix, or what they simply don't understand.

I think another reason may be that, by recognizing or even accepting mental illness in someone else forces them to examine themselves. For many people, that's a scary thought!

So many people think that mental illness = crazy. If they could only understand that everyone (well, maybe with precious few exceptions) has some symptoms of mental illness, be it a phobia, slight paranoia, anxiety... Do you see where I'm going with this?

Wow, I'd like to hear more answers to this one!

I hope this helped in some way.

Habit, fear of what they don't know, history of mental illness -- we have always been treated as "crazy" and people are slow to accept change, and many other reasons to numerous to mention.

But, your question and others shows that the stigma is breaking down. People are beginning to realize that 1 in 5 DO have a mental illness and that 4 of the top 10 reasons for disability in the US today are mental illnesses -- depression, bipolar disorder, OCD, and schizophrenia. We are not going away and mental illnesses are medical illnesses like diabetes and eventually everyone will understand that. Thanks for pointing out the truth!

maybe because it is so hard to understand them... for instance i kno i hate depressed ppl, i dun understand it? why do ppl who r depressed not try to make themselves happy instead, they do the opposite n' make themselves feel worse, this causes me to think they want to be conforted n' hav attention... it pisses me off, my mom is depressed, today i put my sis in her baby seat n' she told me not to strap her all the way, we were in a hurry so i listened, we stop @ a light the baby seat flips forward n' my sis slips out n' is in a position where she could choke herself if we hadnt' pulled over, i get mad @ my mom for this but then she gives me her depressed story on how she didn't ask for children n' how it was a mistake that she couldn't handle (of course this is goin 2 piss me off, she should assume the responsiblity of having children n' takin care of them) grr... thinkin bout it just pisses me off, it's never her fault, it's her sad "reality" that she can't overcome...
mental illness sadly enough pisses me off too, i luv my bro, i looked up to him when i was lil (im getting teary) but when he came back from boot camp skitzophrenic i grew worried then i began 2 hate, he is not the same, 18 still lives with us no job (im 16 hav a job) picks up cans till mid-night like a bum, eats all our food steals my things insults me randomly, can't sleep alone, if he doesnt' take his meds he laugh histerically @ nothing, if takes them he becoems a lifeless zombie...there are sad things about him that make me wanna cry n' things about him that make me want him out...
also my bf's mom n' bros r mentally retarded i won't write about that since i've already written a lot but i will say his mom hates my freakin guts n' i can't do nething bout it cuz she is retarded

Is it so common? Or has society recently taken on a liking to medicalizing normal ups and downs? Maybe that's what people are objecting to.

Funny how the media and Big Pharmaceuticals have convinced us through their catchy commercials, junk science, and snake oil that all the very understandable unhappiness associated with tough life events is "depression."

"1 in 5" people do not have "depression." Where did you hear that, in a commercial on the Boob Tube?

Bottom line is, you only have "depression" if you choose to put your dissatisfaction with your life and yourself in that semantic category. Grossly misconstruing normal human behavior, mostly rooted in evolutionary survival mechanisms, as a chemical imbalance is intellectually indefensible, and Big Business knows the average American is too much of a dolt to do their own research before heading to the pharmacy.

Yes, everybody has problems and legitimate reasons to be down, but at best antidepressants are attacking a symptom that probably has no organic cause whatsoever.

I feel that the majority of people that are taking drugs for depression / anxiety etc, don't really need it. They're just using it as a crutch... at have lost count of how many times I've heard someone say something along the lines of 'it's not my fault; i'm bi polar!', when in reality, it's very difficult to diagnose anyone under the age of 17ish.