No, Mr Siddaramaiah, It’s Not OK to Call BSY “Mentally Disturbed”

Karanataka CM Siddaramaiah repeatedly called BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa “mentally disturbed” while interacting with mediapersons on 12 May, polling day.

(Photo: Meghnad Bose/The Quint)

Karanataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah repeatedly called BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa “mentally disturbed” while interacting with mediapersons on 12 May, polling day for the state Assembly elections. The first time he said it, reporters around him burst into laughter.

While taking potshots and making jibes is part of the course for political opponents, calling someone “mentally disturbed” to slander them is not okay. And here’s why.

A Mockery of Mental Health Issues

Calling someone “mentally disturbed” as an insult trivialises REAL mental health issues. It sends the message to people who are actually dealing with mental illnesses that their condition is worthy of being mocked and used as a throwaway insult. And it further stigmatises mental illnesses in a country which already has a great deal of shame and stigma around anything to do with mental health.

It’s not just the phrase “mentally disturbed”. Sample the following lines, which you may have heard in conversations around you.

Saying this casually...

Oh, that guy is retarded.

Or this...

That girl is so bipolar.

Or maybe this...

Woh toh bilkul mentally unstable hai, yaar!

IS NOT COOL.

Why It’s Not Cool

In India, there is a great deal of stigma around mental illnesses. People are often worried about seeking professional help from psychologists and psychiatrists due to the fear of “Log kya kahenge?”

“What will people say? If I go visit a counselor, will they think that I am mad? Will they call me crazy and make fun of me if I meet a psychologist?”

The stigma is so real that these are real questions people have to deal with before taking even the first step of meeting a psychologist. Often, people don’t talk about their mental health woes in fear of being labelled “weak” or “crazy”.

So dear politicians, please stop with insults of this nature. And mind you, Siddaramaiah is far from being the only offender.

PM Modi’s ‘Blue Whale’ Jibe at Congress

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had compared the Congress to a participant involved in the ‘blue whale challenge’.

In December 2017, while campaigning in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi compared the Congress to a participant involved in the ‘blue whale challenge’.

The fact is that the Congress is trapped in the ‘blue whale’ game and on 18 December, the game will be over.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The ‘challenge’ had been linked to mental health issues and was speculated as having pushed various teenagers to commit suicide. Regardless of whether or not the ‘blue whale challenge’ did result in suicides, it was an objectionable comment to make.

To call his political opponents weak, PM Modi did not need to equate them to people facing mental health issues.

Ironically enough, the Central government had itself issued an advisory on the challenge. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology advised parents, “If your child is talking about any level of distress, do not hesitate to ask them about changes in mental health.”

The government’s advisory on the ‘blue whale challenge’.

Break the Stigma, Don’t Spread It!

More than five crore Indians suffer from mental illnesses, like depression and anxiety. In the age group of 10-24 alone, India records around 63,000 suicides annually.

As a country, we should be looking to tackle this massive mental health crisis, instead of trivialising issues related to it. At a time when various individuals and groups across the country are making efforts to break the taboos around mental health care, using mental illnesses as an insult pushes us backwards.

So hey there netas, continue with your jibes at each other if you must. But please avoid trivialising mental health issues in the process? The nation will owe you one.

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