justthissideofsane:

and read so many bullshit comments about how people with mental illnesses need to man up, that I had to leave my own small manifesto as a comment:

“So many of these comments are complete bull. Having a mental illness is not a matter of “being a little stressed out” as many of you seem to think-mental illnesses are serious and sometimes debilitating disorders that can seriously affect one’s ability to function in an academic setting.

For those of you who insist that these students should just drop out of college, that’s complete idiocy. In today’s economy, YES, a college degree is absolutely necessary, whether you want to work at an advertising firm or take calls for someone who does- it makes no sense, but it’s true.

For those of who keep insisting that instructors should be able to have any say in this matter- instructors should not be allowed to make personal decisions regarding things like a student’s ability to function, including handing in a paper on time- there’s no way you can tell me that my math professor is qualified to tell me that I need to suck it up and that my bipolar disorder should have no effect on my schoolwork. You can’t just kick kids out of school because they have disabilities- nobody advocates that for blind kids, or for kids who are in wheelchairs, or for deaf kids. Every student has the right to an education and to deny them that right is a fundamental breaking of their right to not be discriminated against on ANY grounds.”

(Source: saneoldsameold)