Thread by @garwboy

A thread on, as ever, #mentalhealthstigma, because that's still a major thing, and current events have highlighted a familiar, and deeply frustrating, aspect of it that really needs to be addressed.

/1

So, over the weekend, Fury the boxing man won a world title fight. An impressive feat, no doubt.

bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/5…

He's also been praised a lot recently for opening up about his struggles with depression, which, given his profile and how he got it, is fair enough

/2

But, as many have pointed out, Fury also has a known history of being openly homophobic, sexist, anti-semitic, and more. Guy has built up a LOT of ill will over the past few years.

/3

In fairness, Fury did publicly apologise for all these unpleasant comments. Sort of. Whether his apology was sufficient or even particularly genuine? Well, that's a whole other thing. Am just pointing out that it happened. It's not what I'm getting at here though

/4

Main thing worth flagging up is that some Fury supporters and apologists have argued that as he's experienced mental health problems (depression, addiction), this excuses or removes responsibility for his deeply unpleasant comments

This is a seriously unhelpful stance

/5

I've banged on about this point many times before, but basically;

You can have a completely clean bill of mental health, dealing with no issues or disorders whatsoever, and STILL be a vile human being.

If anything, I'd go so far as to say it's *more* likely

/6

Dealing with a mental health problem, even 'milder' manifestations, is no fun at all. It involves a lot of work and effort, introspection, severe discomfort, self-awareness/assessment, and more. Tackling all that and still staying functional, that's quite an achievement

/7

But arguably one small benefit of dealing with #mentalhealth issues is that it can enhance your emotional competence, your ability to recognise, understand & appreciate the feelings of others

It's easier to comprehend stuff you've dealt with yourself

psycnet.apa.org/record/2001-00…

/8

Indeed, other studies have shown that it's a lot easier to empathise with someone's discomfort if you're experiencing, or have experienced, it yourself. It's seemingly reflected right down at the neurological level

mpg.de/research/supra…

/9

Point being, odds are that mental health issues of your own make you more aware and considerate of the aggro and plight experienced by others. That seems to be how our brains work

Essentially, it potentially makes you less likely to be a judgemental, prejudiced arsehole

/10

By contrast, those who live much easier lives, who've never had to deal with problems, who've had everything handed to them, they genuinely struggle to recognise or comprehend that other people might have hard lives. Their brains haven't developed that muscle, so to speak

/11

As I've said before, this is only a problem if we end up in a situation where the most privileged pampered people are put in charge of populations of millions. As long as that never happens, we should be OK. Because such a setup would be awful for the vast majority

/12

Back to original point though, any conclusion that basically boils down to "Prejudiced and bigoted views are the result of mental health problems" is

A) Almost certainly wrong
B) Actively harmful in the long run

/13

It's harmful because it links mental health problems to deeply unpleasant beliefs and behaviours, which can only increase the stigma and prejudice still regularly directed against countless innocent people, whose only crime is having a brain that's working against them

/14

It's also harmful because it provides a 'cop out' when it comes to dealing with bigotry and prejudice. Assuming such things must be the result of disorders or similar ignores and avoids dealing with the real societal or interpersonal causes that lead to such dangerous views

/15

It can also be a way to desperately avoid accepting the fact that perfectly normal people, even ones we admire, can end up holding completely repulsive views when everything in their head is working fine. It's an unsettling realisation, but a correct one

/16

This isn't to say that a mental health issue *can't* lead to someone developing grim, offensive views. They manifest in such a vastly varied range of ways that it's inevitable that this outcome will occur. But it's far from the most common. It's nowhere near an inevitability

/17

I'd argue that someone with a mental health problem doing or saying bigoted things doesn't show that mental health problems cause bigotry. It just shows that bigots can become mentally unwell too. Mental wellbeing isn't just for nice people

/18

A lot of the stuff in this thread can be found in this old article about why people trying to diagnose Donald Trump is unhelpful, just fyi

theguardian.com/science/brain-…

/19

Basically, there are many causes and explanations for someone doing or saying vile prejudiced things. Some of them may even be 'valid', so to speak.

It's just that "he had depression" really isn't one of them.

/end