Mental health has become a widespread and vital topic for society today. Our mental health is a crucial part of the way we function in our daily lives. However, there is such a thing as being too obsessed with your mental illness. This could also involve allowing your mental illness to define you or make it part of your identity. In this post, we’re going to learn what being obsessed with your mental illness means, the signs that you’re making it part of your identity, why this is considered unhealthy, and how you can shift away from this mindset.
What Does It Mean to Be Obsessed with Your Mental Illness?
Mental illness has become a significant part of a person’s life. It definitely isn’t something you could ignore because it involves your cognitive behavior and emotions. You can’t function in life without a healthy brain. But while it’s perfectly okay to have some self-awareness about your condition, is it possible to be obsessed with it? Obsession usually involves being too consumed with something or someone. When a person is obsessed with their mental illness, they start to become too excessively attached to it for various reasons including comfort, fear of the unknown, or it’s just how they validate themselves. They start to think it’s normal to have it as part of their identity.
Is Having Your Mental Illness as Part of Your Identity Unhealthy?
But is this considered a normal thing? Is allowing your mental illness to be a part of your identity healthy? When you find yourself doing this, you start to no longer differentiate between being aware of your mental illness’s impact on your behavior and using it as an excuse for bad behavior. You start to use your mental illness as a crutch for why you behave the way you are. Other signs of making your mental illness part of your identity include:
- Always talk about your mental illness.
- Feeling reluctant to recover from your condition because you may feel “you’re losing a part of you.”
- Glamorizing symptoms in online communities.
- Refusing to seek help or try coping strategies.
- Calling it your “primary personality trait.”
Why This Can Be Harmful for You?
Now that we know the signs that you’re becoming obsessed with your mental illness, how do we know that being this way can be a harmful thing for you? Many experts have been finding using your mental illness as an excuse to be quite harmful. You will stalling your personal growth and healing. By constantly using their mental illness as part of their identity, you’ll continue to reinforce your negative thought patterns. This could also hurt your relationships with others. One expert states that taking responsibility for our mental health involves looking beyond and beneath the immediate situations as sites of exclusive cause and blame.
How You Can Shift Away from This Obsession?
However, it’s possible to shift away from this mindset. One of the best ways is to stop looking at things online that trigger this obsession. We all are always looking at things online that influence our thinking. Consider looking at content that’s not related to mental health or your mental illness. That’s why it’s important to use your energy for something positive like starting new hobbies, exercising, and starting new goals beyond your mental health condition.
It’s also important to take the time to reframe your identity. This means striving to think of yourself as being more than your diagnosis. Anybody who’s diagnosed with an illness isn’t defined by their illness alone. Learn how to practice some self-compassion towards yourself. It’s okay to acknowledge your own struggles with your condition, but also do and say things about yourself that are positive and caring.
Sometimes, it’s okay to take a little time in the day to reflect on yourself. Try asking yourself, “Who am I beyond my mental illness?” Use various coping strategies and areas of support to prevent yourself from being too obsessed with your mental illness. Giving yourself time to heal doesn’t erase your experiences with your condition-it only helps you to evolve and grow.
Do you know anyone who is dealing with a mental illness and is allowing it to be a part of their identity? Do you think it’s unhealthy to be too obsessed with your condition? Share your opinions and experiences with this issue in the comments section below. As always, be sure to like or share this post with the next person you know and care about.
