Pity

I've experienced several incidents of pity being displayed by people who perceive that mental health does not affect them. By pity, I am referring to that withering look of sadness that some people direct your way if you mention your mental health or appear to be 'suffering'. I do not personally need pity; I need dignity, respect, and compassion! If you cannot provide me with this, then you are not a person I wish to interact with. Pity is insidious and implies that there is something wrong with me. There is nothing 'wrong' with me. I am made in God's or my higher power's image, and I am radiant in my wholeness! I am unique and just as my higher power has made me. My mental health is neither here nor there! My mental health is a valuable lesson for me and others in compassion, understanding, dignity, and respect. My mental health does not make me less than; it does not make me less intelligent or intellectually incapacitated. It actually makes me a more caring, compassionate, and understanding individual, which I feel a lot of society could learn a great deal from. What I am going to do is start pointing out when someone gives me this piteous look and ask politely and directly for compassion, dignity, and respect. We deserve this; there is nothing wrong with us. We are whole and having our own experience; we deserve respect.