I know it’s wrong to force a mentally ill person to compare their suffering to others. When I tell my doctor how horrible my mental health is, what the symptoms are, and they tell me to “think about the casualties of war in Iran”, I feel horrible. I would never ever do this to a person who’s suffering from mental illness. They probably already have enough on their plate as it is, and shoving the problems of the world in their face at that moment doesn’t help anybody. Is that it? I’d appreciate your input on how to verbalize, as pedagogically as possible, why it is wrong, or why it can be wrong.
That second portion really sheds light on how meaningless it is for a health care provider so say something like that to someone like me in this kind of situation. Naturally, there are people that relatively suffer more than me. But, as you said, it doesn’t change to fact that I’m having a meeting with the doctor because right here, right now, I need help. Thanks!
Glad it helped. I’ll add that a healthcare provider should not be saying that, although I’ve experienced similar things myself, unfortunately.
Kudos to you for doing what you need to do for your mental health. I know it isn’t easy. Don’t let them talk you out of what you need.
EDIT: there was also an interesting quote I saw around here a couple of months ago. If you’re drowning, it doesn’t matter if you’re 10 m or 100 m underwater, you’re still drowning.