First World Problems

I hate the phrase that has arisen recently, First World Problems. It makes me angry. Ok so before anyone thinks I don't get it, let me explain.

I understand the purpose is to remind people that we have it really good in this part of the world. It is to remind people to have some perspective on the things that are bothering them. And I agree with the sentiment.

Where it bothers me is that so often it is used to insinuate that people shouldn't feel or think a certain way about a situation. To me this is unhealthy. And for those of us living with mental illness it can be downright awful.

We live in the society we are in. It comes with a lot of privilege. For most of us, this means not worrying about our physical needs being cared for. We have places to live, clothes to wear and food to eat. Our society also comes with its own downsides and pressures. The way any of us feel about these is legitimate and valid. No matter how silly it might seem.

Now, let's take this a step further. For me, and a lot of others, one of the symptoms of mental illness is feeling lousy, overwhelmed, upset, anxious etc... all the time. The thing is, I have a good life. Rationally, there really is no "good" reason to feel awful. There are certainly people around me and around the world who have it way worse than me, and they don't feel like I do sometimes.

To me, anything that is aimed at making people with mental ilness feel shame for the feelings they have adds to the stigma surrounding mental illness. It makes people with the illness feel like they shouldn't feel like they do, even when there is nothing they can do about it. I think it also could lead people to hide what is going on with them.

In the end people with mental illness need support, not shame. Stigma is not helpful. Hiding is not helpful. And so I am workinf on watching the words I use and hope that others are also.

PS this is my 2nd blog post in the blog challenge I have joined
 Check out #blog4mh on twitter to see all of the thoughts about mental health that are part of this challenge.
Also, it is the Canadian Mental Health Association mental health awareness week this week. Their theme is #Get Loud. Let's all get loud and talk about mental health.