Carol Flett, at Everyday Christian

Undercover Nun knows that there is a word for this: bullshit. Let’s take it one sentence at a time.

Mental health has a way of cutting down our pride like no other illness can.  Wait a minute, mental health is an illness?  Clearly Ms. Flett is confused here.  Better wording would have been to say Mental illness has a way of cutting down our pride like no other disorder can.  This carelessness typifies the entire blog post.

For the one with the illness, pride does not seem to be an issue.  Speaking as a mental illness survivor, this is patently untrue.  Mental illness carries vicious stigma, and many/most who suffer from mental illness are deeply ashamed.  In Western culture — the culture of I think, therefore I am — the very idea that one might not be able to control one’s own mind is frightening and threatening.  This is why we all fear the mentally ill, why we try to hide them away, as if depression or schizophrenia were somehow contagious.  No, pride is a major issue for anyone with a mental illness, especially bipolar disorder and dementia, the specific disorders Ms. Flett writes about.

They are either blissfully happy with the way they are and are unconcerned with what others think, or they are totally depressed about everything, or they are too confused to worry about pride.  REALLY?  For one, not all mania is euphoric, Ms. Flett; dysphoric mania is a very different creature.  And even in mania, the person with bipolar disorder is still aware that she or he has this condition and still experiences pride and shame.  Godly humility may not be possible in every mania, but guilt and shame certainly are.  Depression carries with it an incredibly deep sense of shame, that one deserves to be punished.  Depression is a completely self-centered illness, which creates a false humility that is a masquerade for pride.  And totally depressed about everything is a glib and insulting phrase.  If you write about mental illness again, don’t ever use this phrase.  Dementia also carries a heavy load of shame.  Do you seriously think that no dementia patient, even in the early stages, fails to realize what is happening?  No dementia patient feels shame at being unable to and disallowed from taking care of himself or herself?  If so, then you have never visited a nursing home. 

If they are concerned about what others think it is with suspicion, not embarrassment.  Again, patently untrue.  Each of these conditions — along with other brain disorders — carries with it deep embarrassment, deep shame.  Even those who experience terrifying hallucinations, who are very suspicious of others, feel embarrassed and ashamed when confronted with evidence that others are not experiencing what they are.

Despite Ms. Flett’s story about her daughter’s bipolar disorder — which shows not humility but humiliation — it is clear that she has no idea what it is like to suffer and struggle with a brain disorder.  Reading the “related posts” on her blog turns my stomach.

Carol Flett, Undercover Nun prays that you never have to learn firsthand the embarrassment, shame, guilt, and stigma that come with mental illness.  And I pray God’s forgiveness for wishing you could experience these for only one day, to discover the truth on these matters that you do not understand.

Undercover Nun prays each day for victims of brain disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, personality disorders, schizophrenia, epilepsy and seizure disorders, and migraine.  May God fill us with healing power, that we be brought to wholeness and health in body, mind, and spirit.

(Source: blog.echurchwebsites.org.uk)