I always thought I was content with speaking about my mental health struggles. It wasn\u2019t something I felt ashamed about, rather it was liberating to let people know of my own struggles \u2013 it indirectly assured me that people could gain a better understanding of me, that my \"quirks and traits\" did in fact, come from somewhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
...And then eventually my openness to discussing my mental health became something of a laundry list of \u201cproblems\u201d in the other person\u2019s eyes.<\/pre>\n\n\n\nI have ____, ____, _____, the list feels endless. I don\u2019t blame them \u2013 various mental health disorders are already largely complex individually; it can be mind boggling to me at times that the brain can handle so many challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s also not uncommon<\/em>. Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent diagnoses for people with bipolar disorder.[1]<\/a> Studies show Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Attention Deficit Disorder to be highly comorbid[2]<\/a>[3]<\/a> with each other, meaning that both conditions occur in the brain at once. The main point here is that having multiple diagnosed mental disorders, or symptoms of more than one mental health condition is more common than one may think; how they interact with brain functions can make someone more susceptible to multiple mental health challenges. For example, ADHD and OCD both affect the brain\u2019s prefrontal cortex from carrying out its functions effectively to process information and adhere to attention-based tasks (just to name a few of its roles). In simple terms, some mental disorders can go together given the nature of their tendencies.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I opened up to people about my diagnosed conditions in the past, to me, it made sense why I have more than one. But to someone who is not aware of how the brain responds to a chemical imbalance \u2013 which can contribute to a number of symptoms of different mental disorders as I\u2019ve implied, they can see someone like me as having a lot of baggage<\/em>. My conditions have been downplayed to a laundry list of unnecessary work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While it\u2019s not a necessity to talk about my mental health to anyone, I also don\u2019t think it\u2019s healthy to feel the need to oversimplify my struggles to protect any bewildered responses.<\/pre>\n\n\n\nAs part of Mental Health Awareness Month, stigma over having multiple mental disorders is something I wanted to bring attention to. Yes, having an anxiety disorder and<\/em> mild depression and<\/em> ADHD would be very challenging to deal with. But it becomes an ill-reason to discount a person\u2019s character, to assume they have too many problems, that it measures how stable or unstable a person is. It\u2019s one thing to have an initial reaction but another to walk away after hearing names of mental disorders that may have not been well-understood in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you think you may have a mental health condition or are experiencing symptoms of one, Health and Wellness at the University of Toronto is available for support. To enquire about their services please call 416-978-8030 between 8:45 a.m. to 5 pm. Eastern time from Mondays-Thursdays or email info.hwc@utoronto.ca<\/a>. Otherwise contact your local healthcare provider for support.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n[1]<\/a> Ott, Carol A. \u201cTreatment of anxiety disorders in patients with comorbid bipolar disorder.\u201d\u00a0The mental health clinician<\/em>\u00a0vol. 8,6 256-263. 1 Nov. 2018, doi:10.9740\/mhc.2018.11.256<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[2]<\/a> Blanco\u2010Vieira, Thiago, et al. \u201cThe Impact of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Obsessive\u2010Compulsive Disorder Subjects.\u201d Depression and Anxiety<\/em>, vol. 36, no. 6, 2019, pp. 533\u2013542., doi:10.1002\/da.22898.<\/p>\n\n\n\n