(I’m apologizing in advance I had a seizure while writing this post and quite some time lapsed whilst I was slumped under my desk between starting and completion... I don't feel quite together at all or if this post will make sense. But I want to acknowledge you you seem to be hurting badly and your not crazy or jaybirdy.)
To be frank I don’t think everybody has the capacity to understand, well actually I believe only a handful of people you'll meet or are exposed to on any basis will be able to understand. Labeling someone crazy, be it their image of you in there mind or verbally saying some words to that effect; is really dismissive. I think of it as their own mental block because they do not have enough empathy or experience to fully look at what is going on. So instead of digging deeper to understand they put up the wall(defining another as crazy) So they do not have to analyze the subtlety interactions between you and themselves. Maybe some of it hits to close to home and they deny their own experiences of feeling crazed or disorientated thus denying the reality of your situation.
This is my line of thinking as you mentioned in your other thread your still on active duty... but I do not grasp the entire situation nor will I pretend to. I know in my life many people have labeled me as crazy because of my erratic shifts in personality from very social/capable to very automated. Even though I never lashed out at others or put them in a bad positions, kept my problems to myself very private, friends would go out of their way to let it be known im crazy, but It was always to make themselves feel better.
I knew a person who would go through fits of rage, just terribly scary to be around. They weren't crazy though in the eyes of others because at there height or end of a fit they would demean other people rationalizing why and how the fit happen. "Yah I just get pissed real easy I’m not crazy! I'm not like XXX SO and SO. This person compared themselves to me once something to this effect Its not like I’m that crazy cat if you touch him while hes asleep he'll awake ready to fight. (I would fall asleep people would pick on me, usually just completely dissociated so I would be up in arms instantly.)
I'm not sure were I’m going with this really, but I wanna say to me it seems like the group puts the label on the individual, what ever that group consists of.
As far as helping someone understand espcially a loved one I think an open dialog with complete honesty is required, and don’t be discouraged if they don’t understand, it may take time but it may not even happen some things just cant be conveyed especially if there is a lacking of empathy. But there will always be people who try to empathize I dont know... all of my loved ones left me at my time of most needed by them because I was dismissed as crazy... pm if you'd like.
-The Candy Champ Cat
