9 Awesome Perks of Having a Mental Illness

Having a mental illness is not all bad. In fact, I wrote about some great things I have learned from having one here. I also loved this article from Reader’s Digest about the great qualities that are often present in those that struggle with mental illnesses–compassion, diligence, creativity, and insight being among them.

But keeping your sense of humor really helps when you’re battling a mental disorder. Please know that the following list was made in jest. I honestly appreciate the professionals I have worked with and the friends and family that have expressed concern and help. That said, there are definitely some holes in the system and difficulties in facing a mental illness. It is in that vein that I direct my sarcasm.

Now on to some fun “perks” of being mentally ill…

1. You have a “team” of specialists!

Never mind that they never communicate, give you different diagnoses, and recommend different routes to healing. You’ve never had this much attention from people you never wanted to see in your life. And they even let you pay them!

Bonus: You can throw out phrases like “my team says…” to sound important.

2. You get to fill your appointment book with appointments!

If you didn’t feel important having “a team,” surely, having your schedule chock-full of visits to PhDs and MDs will get you there.

3. Not only do you sound important, you sound rich.

Rich people have therapists and psychologists and psychiatrists. Now you have “ists” too! You must be wealthy…

Wait. Actually no. These “ists” cost major moolah. Your fun budget all goes to sitting in fancy offices accomplishing very little after weeks of waiting. You’re actually substantially poorer. Oh well. So much for that number 3.

3. People comment on how sick and tired you look, as well as on weight gain or loss.

“You look soooo skinny.”

“You don’t look well.”

“You look like you’re back to a healthy weight.”

Good thing this many people don’t mention when you look good.

4. You have get to pour out your life’s story and private thoughts to perfect strangers.

Not just once, but over and over again. And then your insurance changes. And you get to tell it all again!

Thank goodness they don’t take any voice memos to pass along to each other or watch any of the footage from all those security cameras at the hospital. It’s way more exciting to relive the worst moments of your life over and over by way of introduction.

5. No longer is “I think I’m going to go crazy” seen as an idle threat.

For example:

You say, “If someone doesn’t get this room picked up fast, I might lost my mind.”

Hearers think, “We know she is totally capable of this. Maybe we better help her get the room picked up.”

It’s nice to have people listen and respond for once.

6. You get a behind-the-scenes tour of locales like the police station and state hospital.

What luck! What an elite club you’ve found yourself in! Now when you watch the crime shows you will know what’s what. If the set-up is not realistic, there will be no getting that past you.

7. Family, friends and perfect strangers alike volunteer their diagnosis of choice and offer unsolicited advice for the future.

It’s really helpful to have so many people take an interest in your life. After meshing their comments with the advice of varied professionals, religious leaders, and self-help books, you can end up more confused than ever in how to proceed towards healing and why you ended up broken in the first place.

8. Even more fun, others pretend nothing happened.

You just went through one of the most life-changing events and diagnoses of your life, but just keep trucking like nothing happened because no one really cares as long as you’re back to “normal” (whatever that is).

9. You are special.

You’ve always been searching for it. Your “it” factor. Finally, you have “it.” You’re the poster-child for crazy. You are free to make all the crazy jokes you want, but be sure to act offended if anyone else does.

If you like tongue-in-cheek, you may also enjoy this video–another rather sarcastic poke at the world of dealing with mental illness by music teacher, musician and mental health advocate, Rachel Griffin. (Just a heads-up: there is some coarse language.)