Is mental illness an illness like any other, to be treated without stigma?

John holds from 2015 that mental illness is nothing to be embarrassed about and almost always treatable, and through 2026 treats his own anxiety like any chronic health problem, with medication and therapy. He says illness is no moral narrative (2019, 2023) and that people with serious mental illness can have full, wonderful lives.

Axis: yes, real treatable illness, no stigma ... no, a matter of character or will

Concept: mental disorder

Positions by date: 25 records in 25 videos. The position did not change in these records.

John

date	how	position	video
2015-11-20	first on record	John holds that nothing about mental illness should be embarrassing, that it is almost always treatable, and that there is hope.	On Mental Illness (and the end of Pizzamas) 00:01:06
2017-07-25	restate	John says effective treatment can be hard to get but there is hope: the vast majority of mental illness is treatable, and many people with chronic mental health problems have fulfilling lives.	What OCD Is Like (for Me) 00:03:35
2018-10-09	restate	John says the good news is that the vast majority of mental illness is treatable.	How Big a Problem is Mental Illness? 00:02:55
2019-04-09	restate	John feels kinship with the patients because he owes his life to effective mental health treatment, the kind they are at last beginning to receive.	The Only Psychiatric Hospital in Sierra Leone 00:04:22
2019-04-16	restate	John says he is definitely better off taking his medication.	Doing Somethings 00:01:27
2019-09-17	restate	To end stigma we must resist seeing illness as a moral narrative: how you got sick shouldn't decide whether you can get well, nor should isolation compound illness's pain.	'end the stigma' 00:03:24
2019-10-15	restate	John now usually understands his anxiety as part of a brain disorder he has, which isn't his fault.	I'm Having a Lot of Feelings 00:02:55
2019-12-10	restate	Both times the cycles were broken by treating his chronic health problem like a chronic health problem: for John, medication and regular therapy.	On Loneliness 00:02:31
2020-02-11	restate	John's mental health is probably the best it's ever been: still mentally ill and on daily medication, but his rolling 90-day average is much better than 5, 10 or 15 years ago.	1,100 Days: A Mental and Physical Health Update 00:01:27
2021-01-26	restate	John lists how you keep going: therapy, a different medication, meditation even if you dislike it, exercise, waiting, and refusing to give in, with philosophy, self-help and religion.	The Sycamore Tree: The Anthropocene Reviewed 00:07:33
2021-04-13	restate	John has been fortunate to have a lot of cognitive behavioral therapy for his mental illness; he uses its positive self-talk technique many times a day to reduce stress and break cycles of self-loathing and despair.	My Truly Mortifying Self-Talk 00:00:58
2021-05-11	restate	John says he sometimes doesn't function well; he doesn't push through his anxiety but tries to treat it and, when necessary, accommodate it like any other chronic health problem.	I am a small boat. It's Question Tuesday. 00:01:08
2021-05-25	restate	Tempting as it is to make labyrinthitis a metaphor for a life lacking balance, John wrote against such symbolization of disease in his novels: OCD and cancer are illnesses to live with as well as one can, not battles or character flaws.	The Anthropocene Reviewed, Animated 00:05:41
2021-07-13	restate	John says body and mind problems are often presented and imagined separately, though our minds are made of meat and our bodies contain all our thoughts and feelings.	The Vlogbrothers Videos I Didn't Make 00:01:27
2021-08-10	restate	The mind-body dichotomy is as insufficient as the category of sandwiches: our minds are made of body, our bodies think, and whether mental or physical, other people's pain is as real as our own.	My Physicalmental Illness 00:03:34
2023-02-07	restate	John says OCD does not make you a brilliant detective like Sherlock Holmes, and tuberculosis does not make you a great writer.	Mid-Morning Existential Crisis: The Format Returns 00:01:03
2023-02-28	restate	John says we blame illness on people's heads, smoking or diet, but illness is not a moral narrative, and seeing it that way is another barrier to empathy.	Empathy and its Limits 00:02:47
2023-04-18	restate	John says Bill wanted him to see Harvey for a reason: it is about someone living with serious mental illness who is nonetheless valuable, important and worthy.	goodbye to my friend 00:01:27
2023-11-21	restate	John says he knows that if he keeps pursuing treatment, working with his doctor, taking his medicine and moving his body, he will eventually feel different.	Minus Its Charms 00:01:18
2024-04-30	restate	John wants to be clear that people living with serious mental illness can also have full, wonderful lives.	Not Doing That Great 00:00:58
2025-08-12	restate	John says he notices the balance of his brain chemicals only when they are imbalanced and cause his OCD or depression.	On Balance 00:03:05
2025-09-23	restate	John concludes that he does need to take his medication every day to become himself, and that is okay.	Why Can't I Take My Meds? 00:04:22
2026-04-07	restate	John finds it a relief that his bacteria are not having thoughts for him, though his microbiome and gut do inform his brain.	I've Been Pooping All Wrong 00:04:09
2026-06-05	restate	John says talking about his OCD has helped many people feel comfortable being themselves and see that one can live a rich life with a serious mental illness.	The Things We Don't Discuss 00:08:45
2026-08-18	restate	Instead of denying his anxiety, John manages it with the tools he has, medicine being one: he has been trying hard to take it every day.	My Nemeses 00:00:58