Unfortunately, the general American population is not very knowledgeable about mental illness at all, even though the majority of us will suffer from some sort of mental disorder in our lives. People in America have all kinds of strange misconceptions about mental illness that serve as roadblocks to understanding mental illness and the mentally ill as they really are. Among these is the misconception that those who suffer from mental illnesses have some sort of ‘invisible wound’ or ‘psychic damage’ or some other half-baked metaphor that makes it seem as though mental illness is entirely outside our power to help with. In that case, why even bother to understand or support those with mental illnesses? They’re just going to stay crazy anyway. At least, so goes the ‘logic’ of people who buy into this view of mental illness.
        A different, but related misconception is that the only people suffering from ‘genuine’ mental illnesses are those with so-called ‘real causes’ for their difficulties, such as a war veteran with PTSD or a rape victim who develops an anxiety disorder. Other people, so the idea goes, are simply ‘choosing’ to ‘act crazy’. This stereotype invalidates the experiences of so many mentally ill people who haven’t had a traumatic event or abusive childhood or something else that people who hold this misconception would consider ‘real causes’. The people affected by this misconception may internalise it and feel shame or guilt about having an illness which, in reality, they cannot control.
        Outside of so-called ‘real causes’, people often blame sufferers or their families for their mental illnesses. In so doing, they guilt, shame, and look down on sufferers of mental disorders. As a result of this view, people may be more likely to get frustrated with a mentally ill person’s seeming refusal to think or act rationally, and they may then seek to avoid spending time with them, a type of behaviour that is clearly indicative of an individualistic culture. The individual is considered to be responsible for all of their own problems and shortcomings, or at the very least, they are the sole bearers of the responsibility of ‘getting better’. As such, people then feel justified in avoiding or shunning them. After all, someone else’s mental illness isn’t their responsibility, is it?
