Description
EDIT 6/20/2016 - Added another point that I forgot about! WARNING
Possibly unfavorable opinion coming through. If you do not like this opinion, please feel free to leave!
If you do not like this opinion, too bad, because this person is not changing their opinion just because you don't like it.
So, this is in regards to a comment debate on a stamp. I am not going to say the user's username, but if you want to know, I'll give you a hint; it's one of the stamps below this paragraph. But anyways, back to my rant, I am sure you all have seen stamps that look like these pretty and lovely example links:
nintendoqs.deviantart.com/art/…
big-fluffy-stuff.deviantart.co…
www.deviantart.com/art/stamp-r…
Anyways, when I went to look at one of these pretty stamps, I noticed someone was making a big deal about it, because in their eyes, they saw these stamps as "glorifying mental illness". And my reaction to such a thing? Well, it went like this: Are you fucking serious?
This was the dumbest phenomena I have ever heard in my entire life. They even went on to say it "would be insulting to people with that particular disorder", makes people look "obnoxious", "arrogant", "seeking out pity or attention", or "defining yourself by your disabilities". And you know what I think of those "reasons"? You guessed it, I think they are bull shit! There are reasons why people would make these stamps, and they are not for those BS reasons.
1. The stamp was a request by another user - People request stamps all the time, as well as request art in general on this site. So when someone makes a stamp that has nothing to do with themselves, people seem to fail to notice that it was requested by someone. In this case, requested by someone with whatever disorder is on the stamp. Ironically, people often say that a particular mental disorder stamp was requested by a different user in the artist comments, but does anyone even bother to read that? Absolutely not, which of course makes them look like an even bigger idiot in my opinion.
2. The stamp would save a person from repeating themselves - A thing about me is the following: I hate repeating myself. Especially if it is telling someone the same exact information that I have told someone else. Really, repeating oneself can be very frustrating and cumbersome. These sorts of stamps would help save people that aggravation if they are a kind of person who hates having to repeat themselves twenty times over.
3. Mental illness has from broad to even very specific categories - When it comes to mental illness, more often than not there is usually one giant umbrella of a mental disorder and under that umbrella there are more specific mental disorders. Some examples are the Autism Spectrum, Personality Disorders, and Anxiety Disorders. However, some people may not know what they entirely fit under because of this broad and specific categorization of mental disorders as a whole. For example, I have only been diagnosed by a psychiatrist with anxiety disorder. However, I do not know where I fall specifically (as there are many similar and more specific anxiety disorders under the giant psychology umbrella of anxiety disorders). With these stamps, it is not uncommon for people to have stamps of the more specific disorders in their favorites, profile, and/or journals, because of how "broad-specific" mental illness tends to be.
4. Mental illnesses themselves can be changed rather easily in classification in the DSM or the IDC - This ties into the last point, because mental disorder categories (as well as their names and critera) can very much change over time. These changes usually come from new research or new knowledge had been found after the last revision they had made to whatever manual that a particular part of the world uses. These two manuals are the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DMC), which is used by the United States, and the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (IDC), which is used internationally, especially by the World Health Organization (WHO). These types of changes more often than not consist of name changes to particular disorders, adding/removing sub-types and/or subsets of a disorder, or can change the category a particular mental disorder can fall under. These changes often cause a lot of confusion to say the least, especially if the DSM or IDC decide to remove a particular disorder for whatever reason they see fit.
5. Some people are not ashamed of their disorders - Let's face it, some people are not ashamed of their disorders, and are not afraid to say that they have said disorders. I know I am one of these people. I have Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) (one of the several sub-types of Autism Spectrum Disorder), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder-Predominantly Inattentive (ADHD-PI) (formerly known as Attention Deficit Disorder/ADD), Depression, Anxiety, and Misophonia. I am not exactly proud I have these disorders, but I am not ashamed to admit it either. I know I'm not afraid to admit it, nor am I hesitant to tell anyone. Sure, there are some who don't, but just because someone else doesn't hesitate to tell anyone about their mental disorder(s), doesn't mean you need to get all up in their grill about it and criticize them for it.
6. Some people use it as a way to cope with their mental disorders - In mental health, coping is expending a conscious effort to solve personal and interpersonal problems, and seeking to master, minimize, or tolerate stress or conflicts. Seeing as every individual is different, people have various ways of coping with their stress or conflicts (in this case, the stress and conflicts being the mental disorder(s) they suffer from). Sometimes these ways of coping can be through an activity, and art is no exception to this. From my own personal experience with my own mental disorders (especially my depression and anxiety), art has been there for me, and has been my way of coping through all of life's ups and downs.
7. Some people want to inform others and/or spread awareness - This one is also a biggie. People have a right to be informed, and people who have these stamps are doing a favor by informing others. Not only does it help inform on a personal level, but it also helps spread awareness of mental illness as a whole. As someone with mental disorders, I love to spread awareness. Because awareness is key to either helping find a solution or to promote tolerance among all of us. And sometimes even though people may not have a certain condition, they may also have the stamp to spread awareness of that condition because they know someone with that condition.
8. Some stamps can be open to interpretation - Some stamps do not have one set picture, and can be interpreted in very different ways from different people. These stamps are no exception. For example, one person can interpret these stamps as a stamp to show you have a mental disorder. Another person can interpret it as an awareness stamp. Seeing as the stamps on this site are art, it makes sense because art can be interpreted in many ways to a person instead of just one single way.
9. Aesthetically Pleasing ≠ Glorification - Basically, just because a stamp that has a mental disorder on it and is in pretty colors and sparkles does not mean that the condition is not being glorified or glamorized. Remember, DeviantART is a website for art. Art is meant to be aesthetically appleasing to us. Not only that, but Awareness groups often use art as a way to inform others about a mental illness and raise awareness. For example, I have a stamp that is for Autism Awareness and has a white butterfly with the puzzle pieces pattern to it. Is that glorifying a disorder? I think not.
10. Letting people know our disorders helps us help others with the same conditions - People with mental disorders know there are others suffering from the same problem. And getting to know one another allows us to be able to help others with the same difficulties we face everyday.Credits
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