Editor – I have started to notice that mentally ill people are ill-treated at many places.
I suffer from ‘bipolar mood disorder’ – characterised by ‘hyperactivity’. That does not mean I am crazy. People, even the “learned ones” (academics), are good at pointing or diagnosing people and calling them “insane”.
I had Psychology as my major course and continued with Honours at UKZN (PMB). I learnt about various mental illnesses, ie kleptomania, bipolar mood disorders (type A and B), schizophrenia (A and B), depression, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to name but a few.
But people will diagnose you without a qualification and fail to prescribe the correct medication. That is when I started to show them the “real” me.
These incidents have also happened to others and this behaviour should stop because it is unacceptable.
For instance, the two features that characterise bipolar disorder are hyperactivity and depression. Bipolar type B is dangerous to yourself and others. Schizophrenia is characterised by hallucinations and delusions.
I beg people to stop this behaviour (diagnosing without a qualification), because they will find themselves in “hot water”.
My psychology says that “we’re all crazy, but the level of craziness is not the same”.
Just like the temperature is either cold, mildly cold, mildly hot, hot and excessively hot – this is like the moods and behaviour of a person.
This article serves as a warning to those who practice illegal and unacceptable behaviour: serious action will be taken. It is a crime to diagnose a person without proper qualifications. “Half knowledge” is very dangerous.
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