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The difficulty of picturing mental illness

NikNikSenior Contributor10 Mar 2016, 5:32 pm AEDT

The difficulty of picturing mental illness

What image comes to mind if I say mental illness?

The chances are that everyone will picture something very different.

Some have reported they picture landscapes, emotions reflected in nature, while others report images that represent isolation and invisibility.

Whilst reading online news I’ve seen mental illness represented in many different ways: illustrations of the brain, the same person with multiple faces, the list goes on.

There are many different representations and interpretations of mental illness. It reflects the wide variety of views we have on mental illness.

How would you like mental illness to be depicted?

We would love to hear your description or see an uploaded image (see edit or insert image above text box when you choose Reply below)

*Please note: images must be aligned to Community Guidelines. They must not be:

- an identifiable image of yourself or anyone you know

- images the depict suicide or self harm

- graphic images of any nature

22 replies

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In response to: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

MoonGalSenior Contributor10 Mar 2016, 6:15 pm AEDT

Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

I see myself as a pale reflection moving through a barbed landscape.

and trapped behind an opaque glass since childhood (looking through a glass darkly).

In response to: Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

Unknown userMember10 Mar 2016, 9:17 pm AEDT

Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

a faceless person who is lost... somehow (im still not entirely sure who i am or what makes up me, or what i want to be me?) and i just feel lost or trapped in a a massive world where even familiar things start to look new and unfamiliar. - but its been a big week.

In response to: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

BlueBaySenior Contributor12 Mar 2016, 11:38 am AEDT

Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

Hi @NikNik

I see my mental illness as:

A tangled web. So many webs all criss crossing each other. And each time I untangle a bit of the web I get caught up in another web. It feels like I can never get out of this web. A tangled mess. Confusion, voices, visions.

When I see the words 'mental illness' I see pain, hurt, victim, depression, sadness, frustration, anger, isolation, abandonment. I see so much pain, yet a little bit of strength (not much). I see lots of tears and I see myself as a little girl crying huddled up in a corner with nowhere to go, but hiding away from everyone, being scared, being isolated. And more tears.

In response to: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

PepperoniContributor12 Mar 2016, 12:22 pm AEDT

Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

Pictures tell a story of mental illness

http://www.smh.com.au/national/pictures-tell-a-story-of-mental-illness-20160310-gnfuzm.html

In response to: Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

BamBamSenior Contributor12 Mar 2016, 2:50 pm AEDT

Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

For me it's truckloads of information (say, like a box of sand or dirt) to sift through, only to find that the 'good' bits of sand have gone by the time you get to them. This is how I think of it 'externally', when I'm in the midst of it it's just endless thoughts. It seems as though my one is quite different to the others.

In response to: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

Unknown userMember12 Mar 2016, 5:05 pm AEDT

Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

at first i picture MI as 'suffering' then i had a vision of community who support one another through hard times. I think suffering strengthens the world when we learn from bit.

In response to: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

Unknown userMember12 Mar 2016, 7:12 pm AEDT

Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

THE ALLEGORY OF THE LONG SPOONS The allegory of the long spoons is a parable that shows the difference between heaven and hell by means of people forced to eat with extra long spoons. In hell (suffering) the people are unable to lift food to their mouths using such unwieldy cutlery and are needy, wanting, starving, weak, trapped & unable to function.. In heaven they observed the spoons could reach another person across the table, they learned to feed each, other & receive from one another & trust & were sustained. The story can encourage people to be kind to each other, to look beyond our own needs, to use what we have & trust things will work out. There are various interpretations of the fable including its use in sermons and in advice to lonely people.

In response to: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

SCORPIONSenior Contributor17 Mar 2016, 1:05 pm AEDT

Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

alone

Scorpion

In response to: Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

BamBamSenior Contributor17 Mar 2016, 1:27 pm AEDT

Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

@SCORPION - you are not alone.

In response to: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

Drac0Senior Contributor18 Mar 2016, 4:25 am AEDT

Re: The difficulty of picturing mental illness

I picture it as being like the maze from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. But much larger, darker and dangerous.

A place with many dark, dangerous dead ends where you could become trapped in your own mind. Instead of monsters & traps as you seek freedom, it's your own thoughts, emotions and actions that assail you. If you do happen to approach the exit, the walls move, forcing you back deeper into the maze once more.

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