This came up today:

http://www.mind.org.uk/news-campaign.../#.VRaEb1wlrGm

https://www.thecalmzone.net/2015/03/...wings-tragedy/

It seems that some journalists said that the man crashed the plane BECAUSE he was depressed. Putting forward that idea might mean that people start to think that depressed people are likely to be murderers... which is not statistically true. They might hurt themselves, but not others.

I am feeling strong enough at the moment to speak out when I hear people talk about people that suffer with poor mental health in a derogatory way.

I used to refer to myself as 'crazy'. Yesterday I heard a woman who was talking very loudly next to me in a cafe calling her old housemate 'crazy'. 'She didn't pay her rent! Turned out she was an alcoholic, and she was suicidal. It was unpleasant. I didn't want to live with crazy people.'

I interrupted her, apologised for being able to hear her, and said that I found it offensive to that she called a depressed person 'crazy'. She said, 'I have got friends that are depressed, actually!'. I said 'well then, why do you talk about them like that?' To which she shut me down - she didn't want to get into an argument. I'd made my point so I shut up.

I'm not going to refer to myself as 'crazy' any more. Even though sometimes I feel that way about myself, I now see that it can spread discrimination. It's a reductive word. This woman seemed very judgemental and didn't show any empathy for other people's suffering. She might not be always like that, but one loud conversation in public can make a difference to someone. It's the conversations like that, overheard in a cafe, or your friend talking about depression like it's nothing more than an inconvenience to other people, that make people afraid of being 'out' about their mental health problems.

Later I heard her say, 'no matter what mental health problems someone is experiencing, they can't behave like that - they have to pay their rent.' I'm not sure what I think about this. I have paid my rent always, but there have been times that I have not been able to cope with what was demanded of me. Perhaps a better understanding of how incredibly difficult the simple things become for sufferers might help other people cut them some slack.

What do you think about calling yourself 'crazy'?

How do you feel you are judged by society?