I'd never thought about this before! I guess the reasoning behind "treat mental illnesses like physical illnesses" is to treat mental illnesses (which are so often denied/dismissed) like the kind of afflictions that are self-evident (e.g. amputations). I guess it's relevant to include all 'invisible' illnesses in this metaphor, and remember that no one knows their own body, health, experiences, and limitations better than themselves.

I think the distinction here is more about chronic vs. Acute. In this case I think it is very reasonable to compare chronic physical illnesses with chronic mental illnesses.

When I say that we should treat mental illness like physical illness, I mean funding parity. In Canada we spend about 12% of our healthcare dollars on mental health. It's not enough by a huge margin. Research and treatments for mental illnesses are estimated to be 50 to 75 years behind physical illnesses. That is what I mean, when I talk about treating them the same. Parity.

The headline made me think this piece was about denying that mental illness is illness. I'm glad that wasn't the case. I was prepared to be outraged. Mental illness IS physical illness. But you're right that the particular brand of oppression olympics engaged in sometimes is wrong.

I asked my mother if she would blame me for getting irritable if I had diabetes and low blood sugar. She said no. Then I asked why she'd blamed me for getting irritable while triggered. (I have C-PTSD.) She said it was different. :(

Can we stop with the black-and-white, all-or-nothing thinking? In some ways, the comparison *is* helpful.

Thank you EF! I've been saying this for years! It's just as ableist to assume people with "physical" conditions receive proper treatment, when in reality no one does. All illnesses are valid, but our health care system and society is so messed up that every illness doesn't get treated the way it should.

Victim blaming, doubting the victim's experiences, and our capitalist society (pick yourself up by your own bootstraps and work no mattet what) is the problem.

Note: I have both mental and physical illness and they are incomparable. I'd like to point out that most people with chronic physical illness also have mental illness as well. People with cancer are 60% more depressed and suicidal than the general population. Depression and anxiety are incredibly common with life shortening and threatening chronic illness, so intersectionality is important!!!

I've used this comparison in order to validate invisible illnesses, but there is some false equivalence. As someone who has been told I was faking (my asthma) and told I'm too sensitive (I have anxiety and depression) and was fat shamed by an endocrinologist when seeking help for chronic fatigue and dizziness, these points are so important.

They make some good points, but I tend to disagree a little bit (notice: one of my parents is a mental health professional and, also, I suffer from a few mental health issues). It's really all about framing. Yes, broken bones heal quickly and broken minds don't. But what needs to be better explained in the context of treating mental illness "just like any other illness" is that your brain is just another vital organ. And like all other vital organs in the body, is just as susceptible to illness. When your heart has problems (hypertension, for example), you must take medication to sustain your body and prevent worse things (heart attacks, strokes). So follows mental health: when your brain has an illness (severe depression, for example) proper treatment is required to avoid things like suicidal thoughts, which in many ways can be compared to a heart attack from untreated hypertension. That's really a better way to metaphorically compare mental illness and physical illness. More to the point, somebody with high blood pressure is just as difficult to discern as somebody with anxiety or OCD.

This article is ridiculous. Comparing physical illnesses to mental illnesses is not about "pitting us against each other." It's not a contest. We compare things to put them into context for those who don't understand that mental illnesses are actual illnesses.

Honestly, if you react to someone trying to explain their mental illness via comparison and you first reaction is to cry that they're trying to make it sound like their sicker and more in need of attention than you then there are some things you need to unpack yourself.

Completely and wholeheartedly disagree with this article. The reason that people are making the comparisons between physical and mental illness is because of the stigma that mental illness is a character flaw. Like a choice that makes you a bad person. Using curable examples doesn't take away from the main argument that mental illness does not define the integrity or character of that individual. The comparison is very important and people forget that on a chemical level, mental illness IS physical. I'm in a wheelchair and, although I face unique struggles, no one is going to blame who I am as a person for my messed up condition.