Under Construction - MHWA Retreat

I think it's all on a spectrum. Everyone has a normal range of emotions and behaviors, but perhaps these aspects of our personalities become amplified when influenced by a mental illness. There is perhaps a bit of subjectivity involved though because everyone will experience emotion differently and things that drastically affect one person, may not have much of an effect on another person. I always try to be conscious of that because we can never know the workings of another person's mind. We can never know exactly how they are feeling or exactly how something is affecting them. I get frustrated when I hear people say things like: "It's not that bad ... I dealt with the same thing, and got over it quickly ... don't worry, you'll be fine... etc." Comparing how we deal with something to how someone else deals with it isn't fair. One person's "normal" range of emotions will be different from someone else's, so I don't think it's possible to draw a line where "normal" ends and "illness" begins. First because that line will be different for everyone, and second because I believe people go back and forth over that line based on any number of things like age, experience, life events, time of day, etc. I do agree with Angela though that when your ability to live a normal life and function in society is affected, you may be more likely to have passed over the line into a mental illness.

-Emily