Word: understands
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...realm of the trivial, the unimportant, or the laughable. Sometimes this torment is deliberate: I kick you and then laugh at you for crying. But in most cases, the willingness to hurt stems from ignorance or a lack of comprehension: I laugh at you because I do not understand...
People who have not experienced a psychotic break, a panic attack, a depressive episode, an obsessive cycle, a want to hurt themself or a want to die—the feeling of being out of control that symptomizes mental illness—generally do not understand the anguish of these experiences. Not mean-spiritedness, but rather a lack of empathy—stemming, presumably, from a lack of knowledge—must therefore be the source of these claims: “I’m so depressed! I got a C- on my exam...
...derogatory context, yet the incidence of illness-as-punchline remains an all too common occurrence in our otherwise hyper-P.C. environment. Straight people don’t say, “That’s so gay” because they understand why it might be hurtful; but knowledge about mental illness is often lacking and misinformed, and many underestimate (or fail to consider) the severity of mental illness and the grief that jokes at its expense may cause. The Harvard community should be commended for the sensitivity and support it has shown to students who have partaken...
Harvard students need to better understand the nature—and prevalence— of mental illness. Mental illness is not something that other people have; according to the NIMH, one in four adults will suffer from one or more mental illnesses in his lifetime, and one in seven will suffer from one or more severe illness. Before referring in jest to “those voices in your head,” keep in mind that schizophrenia destroys lives, and that last year UHS diagnosed five Harvard students with the disease. In other words, if your joking hides real...
...need for college students to understand the nature of mental illness is imperative and timely, for most illnesses’ symptoms first surface in late adolescence and early adulthood. Be sensitive, be open-minded, be aware and get informed: When others reference mental health in a trivial or stigmatizing way, remind them that mental illness is a serious issue that affects everybody. Hundreds of Harvard students live with mental illness; you or a loved one may suffer from a disease that others may, in their ignorance, attempt to render funny. Ideally, the result of education about mental illness will...