Mental Health Issues Are Not Gifts Or Superpowers

It certainly doesn’t feel “gifty” or super to be depressed, or to be anxious, or to have immense trouble focusing one’s attention, or to obsess about keeping your house extremely clean and organized.

Framing mental health problems as gifts seems to overshadow the significant challenges that they pose to one's daily life and general happiness. It brings to mind those (unintentionally) dismissive comments people will make about being “so OCD” because they like a tidy, organized office or kitchen—as though OCD is simply this wonderful ability to organize things. 

Or the comment that “everyone is ADHD sometimes,” when they’re having trouble concentrating for a short period of time—as though ADHD is just this mildly-inconvenient attention problem that pops up every once in a while. 

Or the person who says they’re “depressed” because their favorite show isn’t on today, or because their local sports team lost the recent game—as though depression is the same thing as being mildly disappointed or temporarily sad about a minor setback.