MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE DON'T KNOW THEY ARE MENTALLY ILL | Woodshed Theory

Hi! I’m Claire, and this is my channel, Woodshed Theory. Here, you will find the awkward ramblings of an adult autist. I love being creative and sharing my experiences with you. Subscribe to see more DIYs, Discussions, and Bunnies on your feed!
Mental Illness is something that has affected me since my childhood. However, it never occurred to me until my late diagnosis that mentally ill people don’t know they’re mentally ill. I really just assumed one would know if they were ill… I learned the hard way that that’s not true. Listen in as I discuss this subject and put a call out for some grace and understanding. It is really hard to come to terms with a mental illness diagnosis.
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[@lilykatmoon4508]

I was diagnosed with OCD about a year after I started therapy at age 19. A lifetime of having my life driven by this horrible cycle of intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. Many of my behaviors were internal, mainly magical thinking and counting. My external behaviors were organizing, sorting, color coding, etc and were seen more positively. I had a breakdown sophomore year in college. In therapy, I realized that not everyone had this constant mental anguish or battle ruling their lives. I really didn’t understand that how I had been surviving my illness, not living and thriving, and that I was sick land needed help.

[@WoodshedTheory]

Thank you for sharing, it sounds like we had a very very similar experience.

[@mavelynnnn]

i’m so glad that we are normalizing mental health struggles. THANK YOU! i love your channel!

[@WoodshedTheory]

Thanks for being here!

[@janhill626]

So true. Give grace to us all. We can never really know what some one is experiencing. Compassion and listening means so much 🧡

[@forgivenonce]

When you mentioned driving around the block because you wanted to check the garage door, I really connected with that. I have had to talk myself out of that many times....knowing that every time I did it I would find the same thing....a closed garage door. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I am learning new things.

[@WoodshedTheory]

Thanks for sharing!

[@carlillingworth88]

I think without the information, we cannot assess ourselves and make that judgement. I didn't know I had a chronic anxiety until a friend shared his own experiences with anxiety and I made the connection when I started researching it to better understand his experience.

[@WoodshedTheory]

Thanks for sharing Carl. I remember years ago saying to a friend, well I don’t have anxiety. He was like umm yeah you do. 😂 I had no idea

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

I think it does depend a lot on the condition. Anxiety, you probably wouldn't know that you're that anxious without something to compare it to. But, if it is a more unusual thing like hallucinations, you'll notice pretty quickly that they don't seem to follow the normal rules of where sounds come from. And often times psychotic people are very much aware that there's something going on that's not at all normal, but there is often times a lot of barriers to treatment and once you've got that in your file it's a real risk that doctors will just stop listening to anything you say.

[@patriciarennea]

I didn't "know", but I did feel flawed

[@WoodshedTheory]

I know what you mean

[@StillGamingTM]

When I was in my teens I was depressed and I truly had no idea until a psychologist pointed it out! Good on you for raising awareness on this issue, it's super relevant especially in current times - the instability of things seems to bring out people's darker sides. And yeah, let's not go around diagnosing people, please please please leave that up to trained professionals. But certainly just being nice to people who seem to be struggling and perhaps recommending they go talk to someone sometime, that is sure to help

[@WoodshedTheory]

i totally relate - i was so upset the first time a dr i just met suggested i was depressed because how could that be possible when i was so happy? now i think back and think yikes

[@marymakesmandalas6068]

I didn’t respond well at all when I was diagnosed with anxiety, because I was sure I had never been anxious a day in my life. That was 1997. I finally believe it in 2023. I just found out that anxiety may not feel like a person expects, but nobody taught me that. Love you

[@WoodshedTheory]

I also didn’t respond well the first time a dr suggested depression

[@wendy8561]

Thank you for pointing out on panic and anxiety attacks wow love this channel already the OCD is unreal and it does take time I never knew like you said I thought it was normal to check the locks on the doors washing my hands counting tiles etc thank you so much definitely subscribed 💜

[@WoodshedTheory]

OCD is so hard! Thanks for the sub

[@wendy8561]

@@WoodshedTheory 🥰

[@faeriesmak]

I think that you don’t know because it is your normal. You don’t really know that most people do not feel, think, or do the same things that you are feeling, thinking, or doing. I didn’t know that I have a really hefty case of childhood trauma, chronic anxiety, and other issues until I was in therapy for awhile. I knew that I probably had SAD but dang..I am actually a mess.

[@WoodshedTheory]

That is a good way to put it - it’s your normal

[@AutisticlyRose]

Darn you, making me think. I got my first mental diagnosis at age 12ish for depression and I've kept racking them up since then. I don't think I've ever come to terms about it though & Its just been a part of me for so long now.

[@wendy8561]

Thank you for being so transparent and sharing this video I can really relate and totally agree thank you so much again , it helped me a lot I am not alone

[@WoodshedTheory]

So glad you are here!

[@wendy8561]

@@WoodshedTheory I am to thank you I've been watching your videos thru the night it's now 534 am morning lol

[@user-bt6id7ql2n]

I had to pause to quick comment because at 3:28 you said my absolute favorite saying. You don’t know what you don’t know. My version ends with Until you know it. Awesome.

[@WoodshedTheory]

Cool!

[@crystalokeefe197]

exactly!

[@WoodshedTheory]

Indeed!

[@Civileyez]

Thank you for sharing. It's very brave.

[@WoodshedTheory]

Thank you for your support

[@Civileyez]

@@WoodshedTheory Tips 🎩. ☮

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

That's a problem. There's also the problem where you were diagnosed, but no longer have a clinically diagnosable case, or where more information comes to light to suggest that it wasn't the right diagnosis in the first place. At some point over the last 10 years or so, I went from definitely having OCD to not having enough symptoms to allow a diagnosis. It's a good thing, but by the same token, it also means that the diagnosis should have been removed from my current health concerns. I never had issues with accepting the diagnoses. In retrospect, that probably was a bit of a sign that I might be autistic as I had a tendency to just take that stuff on face value, even if I should have been asking follow up questions. I am aware of the fact that if I go back to checking things that I will wind up back in OCD-land at some point, but at this point, the compulsive things seem more ASD related and that's not something that will ever go away. But, it looks like the efforts I've made in terms of making it more clear that I've done whatever I'm concerned about not doing more thoroughly register and just accepting that the fear I have might come true this time, has worked. I haven't even needed medication in many years at this point. Which is part of why there are mentally ill people out there that don't know. Many of the symptoms of mental illness are normal process that have massively overgrown their utility. Being anxious because there's a big interview coming up is normal, being anxious like that just leaving the house is only normal if you're in a war zone or similar situation. And depression that goes away as soon as you start taking action to move forward in life is normal, but depression that's so overpowering that you are paralyzed is not normal.

[@WoodshedTheory]

Thank you for sharing! Yes I go through seasons where I barely have ocd symptoms and then I also go through times that are terrible

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

@@WoodshedTheory One of the challenges at times is that while ASD is a lifelong condition, schizophrenia, OCD and the like aren't necessarily for the rest of your life, but it's not always clear at what point you can consider them gone, or misdiagnosed in the first place. That being said, when somebody gets to the point where they are able to accept that the consequences of not doing the ritual won't be that bad, that's probably a decent enough point to say cured enough. It's definitely a weird disorder in that the ultimate way out is kind of simple, it's just usually the one thing that the OCD sufferer can't do.

[@WoodshedTheory]

@@SmallSpoonBrigade I don’t think I’ll ever be cured enough not to be dealing with it

[@gregoryburne5251]

My friend used to say this in junior school( unsettling, i know):"Greg, if you worry that you're insane, then you aren't ".

[@WoodshedTheory]

Ahhh that is a good one!