作為一個精神復康社工，我想說的是...... As a social worker in the field of mental health care, I would like to share is……

自從社工畢業後，我選擇了投身精神復康的工作，曾有擔心我的朋友問會否有危險，家人亦曾叫我重拾以往所學習的空手道以保護自己。當然我明白是出於對我的關心，但正好反映了社會大眾對精神病患者的標籤：危險、生人勿近。

After graduated from social work program, I choose to work in the field of mental health care. My families and friends have asked me before if there will be any risks, they even advise me to pick up Karate again in order to protect myself if I’m in danger. I can feel their love and care about my safety, however, their worries just remind me about the negative labels about mental illness patients such as danger and keep away from them.

精神復康是一個很有趣的範疇，你會接觸到不同的患者，例如抑鬱症、狂躁症、精神分裂、人格障礙等，他們對人甚至對世界的看法可以有著完全不同的邏輯。

For me, mental health care is a very attractive field since I will have the chance to get in touch with many kinds of mentally ill patients, such as patients with depression, bipolar affective disorder, schizophrenia as well as different types of personality disorders. When I am trying to understand their views, it could be totally different to the world that most people widely considered as normal.

"人人都說你病了，你卻說世界病了。"
“People said you are in sickness, but you think the one who sicks are the world.”

的確，在我們所謂的正常人眼中，患者有奇怪的思想及行為，亦有難以理解的情緒高漲或低落，但小眾的他們只是與大眾的我們有些分別而已，這代表他們有病嗎？換句話說，在患者眼中，病的不是他們，只是世界把他們扭曲了，病的是接納不到他們的世界。

There is no doubt that in the viewpoint of so-called “normal people”, the patients who have mental illness always share strange thoughts and behave in a very different way. Also, it is difficult for “normal people” to understand their fluctuated emotions between hyper mood to depressive. However, I think we could only consider them as different from the majority or so-called “minority”, but it doesn’t define themselves as sick. On the other hand, we could also consider the world were sick because the world was not inclusive to minorities. Sickness is actually describing the world instead of them.

雖然我並沒有任何宗教信仰，但聖經中有一句話說得好，
Although I do not have any religions, I was agreed with a statement originated from Holy Bible.

''為甚麼看見你弟兄眼中有刺，卻不想自己眼中有樑木呢？"
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"

身處現時的社會，我們習慣了對別人作出批評，但當你指控別人的同時，別人何嘗不是在指控你呢？所以根本沒有正常或不正常之分，所謂「正常」（Normality)，每每只是「大多數」的代號，但卻是造成歧視的元兇。

Nowadays, people get used to carrying “double standard” to criticize others in our society. However, when you are criticizing others, at the same time others are also criticizing you. Therefore, there is no difference between normal and abnormal. Normal only defined as the majority and this is the root cause of discrimination.

回到最初，到底精神病是一種病嗎？站在醫學立場來說：是，大腦的處理功能出現了問題。但從人本立場來說：是嚴重的情緒困擾，亦是成長的功課，視乎你如何看待。
Back to the beginning, can we define mental illness really an illness? From the medical school point of view, the answer is yes because this is the symptoms of cerebrum malfunctions. However, from my point of view, this is a severe emotional distress, and at the same time, this is a core subject for everyone, and its always up to your own decision and how you look at it.

大家最近有情緒困擾或煩惱嗎？歡迎留言跟我分享喔！說出來總比藏在心中好:)
Do you guys have any emotional distress or worries in your mind? Feel free to comment on below and share with me your thoughts! It's always good to speaking it out instead of hiding it deep:)

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