What Are The Most Harmful Cliches?
People struggling with depression or mental illness often encounter others who want to feel like they already have all the answers. Rather than listening and offering support, people often turn to cliches as a way of dismissing depression and its consequences.
What cliches do you find most harmful?
Examples include "pick yourself up by your bootstraps" (implying that depression is a choice and those who suffer it and simply too lazy to try) and "life is what you make it" (as though everyone from the depressed to homeless children living in third world landfills are causing their own life circumstances.)
Every cloud has a silver lining.
YES like a silver lining to suicide? Cancer? Rape? Looking for a silver lining is just insulting in many cases!
@Topsy
Or "God needed another angel"
"Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem." - There are people with permanent problems, and it is a solution nonetheless, albeit an unfortunate one.
"It gets better"- Is that a personal guarantee? It can also and quite possibly and most likely get WORSE.
"Suicide is selfish"- If that is so, then isnt it more selfish making someone continue to live despite their pain and misery?
"It takes more courage to live than to die/ dying is the easy way out/ is cowardly"- It takes guts to die. If it were easy there would be a whole lot more completions.
"People have it worse"- Comparing someone's problems with other people's problems in less fortunate places. Perfect logic.
" You have so much to live for"- Yeah everyday waking up feeling worthless and doing nothing.
"What about the future and the good things that'll happen? Meeting your true love, having a family, etc, etc.
-At one point and time, today was once "the future" so..
" God will punish you/ you will go to hell"- Should God punish me for being too weak?
"God never gives you more than you can handle"- I'd prefer God to give me LESS than I can handle because I'm not handling this very well.
Agree with ALL of these. If god never gives people more than they can handle, that means no one commits suicide? Good points on each
Even when I was religious, that one always got under my skin, because it is demonstrably not true.
@Topsy
smh it's always someone who has it easier than you who tells you things aren't so hard. And you wanna shout "Yeah FOR YOU!!!" Count your blessings, not mine.
Yeah. If my life had been perfect, I probably wouldn't be here. But so many people I've interacted with here have had much rougher sledding than I. I think people want to say something supportive, and just aren't always sure what. But sometimes someone just needs to let it out and be validated. Sometimes it *is* that bad.
@Topsy
