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Woman Shares Powerful Image After Reading Story About People 'Faking Mental Illness'

Woman Shares Powerful Image After Reading Story About People 'Faking Mental Illness'

This is important.

Mel Ramsay

Mel Ramsay

Images of a writer who has a mental illness have gone viral after she posted them in response to an article about 'fake sufferers'.

The picture, originally uploaded last year, was made by writer Anna Spargo-Ryan after an article was published published in The Sydney Morning Herald about how to tell when employees are faking it to get out of work.

She uploaded this photo alongside a powerful statement.


Credit: Facebook/Anna Spargo-Ryan

Anna wrote: "These photos of me were taken three days apart.

"In the first one, I have a mental illness. And in the second one, I have a mental illness.

"The Sydney Morning Herald today published an article by James Adonis, about how employers can identify people who are 'faking' mental illness to get out of work.

"One of the recommendations from this absolute dropkick of a human was to 'issue a warning to those you suspect are faking it'."

She continued: "Part of what makes mental illness so hard to identify in at-risk people is the constant reinforcement that we're 'imagining it' or that we're 'just sad' or that we 'have to want to get better'. It's an ethereal illness, existing only because we can't be bothered to be well, or because we've talked ourselves into it, or because we didn't try hard enough, or because we are faking it.

"Garbage 'people-management thinkers' who choose to perpetuate the myth that mental illness is probably a fakery do so to broad societal detriment. Good people have mental illnesses.

"We need them to feel supported and empowered in their places, whether that's work or home or school or somewhere else. Not that someone is waiting to 'catch them out'. Not that their illness is not legitimate. Not that the time they take away from work to seek treatment is bogus.

"Both of these photos are mental illness. I hope this helps you to spot the fakers."

The writer of The Sydney Morning Herald article, James Adonis, later apologised, saying: "Since publishing this article, an enormous amount of feedback on social media has made me realise it was poorly written and insensitive.

"This has been unfair on those with a mental illness and their loved ones. This was never my intention. My intention was to achieve the opposite. At this I clearly failed. I'm genuinely sorry."


Credit: Facebook/Anna Spargo-Ryan

However, Anna's picture attracted some criticism. One person wrote: "All you've done is further support his claim. Mental illness is invisible; that's why morally corrupt people can so easily fraudulently claim benefits for their non-existent conditions. And due to the stigma of even daring to question it, they can do so with impunity.

"If you had genuine concern for the credibility of legitimately unwell people, you would surely share his ambition to rid the workplace of these parasites. Anyhow, what would your solution be? Allow people to claim 'mental illness', any time, free of doubt or suspicion or any burden of proof, and expect the employer to assume full financial liability? Don't you see how that is ripe for exploitation?"

Anna replied: "Frankly, Matt, I don't give a shit about the people who fake it. I care about whether the people who don't fake it are able to get the support and access the services they need in order to thrive at work.

"Ridding the workplace of parasites is not my MO; encouraging organisations to build in positive and proactive mechanisms is. People choose to exploit their sick leave in all kinds of ways, and that's their prerogative. If an organisation requires proof of illness to take additional leave, so be it, but they need to also offer a workplace free from suspicion and discrimination - this article teeters dangerously close to both."

Well, fair enough.

Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Anna Spargo-Ryan

Topics: Viral, U Ok M8?, Mental Health, Facebook