‘Want to know why bullies label you mentally ill? Here are all the reasons they do it and how you can fight back.
When people label you “unhinged,” no one has to take you seriously ever again. Others will automatically doubt everything you do, good or bad.
In this post, you will learn why bullies label you mentally ill, so that you discover where the label comes from.
Once you realize these crucial facts, you will be able to counter the label more confidently and effectively, as you will understand its intentions.
This post will tell you why bullies label you mentally ill to alleviate any confusion you may have and to help you stand firm against the label.
Why Bullies Label You Mentally Ill
Anytime society sticks a person with the “mentally imbalanced” label, it can be worse than if they are deemed a criminal. Because at least people take criminals, even murderers and rapists, more seriously. What a crying shame!
Therefore, when bullies can con an entire community into deeming you unhinged, they can make you disappear and become irrelevant. And they can do it even after you’re dead.
The most insidious thing about this label is that it can make the labelled person doubt their own sanity. In other words, it’s not so much that they think you’re mentally imbalanced; it’s that they want you to believe it.
Why? Because if they can make you believe it, then you’re more likely to live up to it.
Furthermore, the cr4zy card is the easiest for bullies to play. Although they can never prove you’re a basket case, there’s no way you can prove that you aren’t one.
This Label is worse than the label, “criminal.”
This is why the mental health label is the most widely used among bullies and society as a whole. Also, it’s the most common form of gaslighting.
“Cray-cray” can be used as a last resort when bullies run out of options and can’t pin anything else on you. Think about it. They can’t easily label you a whore if you haven’t slept around.
Just the same, they can’t as easily label you a criminal if you don’t have a police record to prove it. And they can’t easily label you a thief if you never took anything that wasn’t yours.
Whereas, you can’t as easily disprove a mental imbalance. Therefore, the more you know about the ins and outs and the reasons behind its use, the better you can defend against it.
The best thing you can do in this situation is to keep your head and continue showing them up. It may take a while, but eventually the label does wear out. And when that happens, its effect will be lost.
Why Bullies Label You Mentally Ill:
3 Reasons Bullies Stick The “Cray” Label on you
Do you ever wonder why bullies attach labels, such as “unstable” or “mentally disturbed,” to you when you stand up to their abuse? Here are the reasons:
1. The unstable label is used by bullies as a last option
When there is nothing else they can pin on you, this is their last-ditch effort to stigmatize you. And, sadly, it works like a charm.
2. A mental imbalance is the most difficult to disprove.
Let’s say you’re a target of bullying and have the guts to stand up to the abuse. The bully may tell everyone that you’re nuts, and everyone else may believe it, too.
There is no way the bully can prove that you are, in fact, unhinged. However, there’s no way you can prove that you aren’t. Therefore, the burden of proof lies with you. And proving that you aren’t mentally ill is the most difficult.
3. They’re trying to make you doubt your own sanity.
Bullies aren’t clueless. In fact, they probably know more about human nature than the average person. They’ve learned that if someone is told something a million times, they’re more likely to believe it, eventually.
And when you believe something about yourself, you will likely live up to it. Therefore, don’t you doubt your sanity for a second!
If you know that you are not mentally ill, say it! Tell them that you know what they are trying to do and that you don’t buy it!
Why Bullies Label You Mentally Ill:
People tend to believe the worst in others.
This is why the “cray-cray” label is just too easy to stick on anyone. People have a strong tendency to see the worst in others. And, again, the burden of proof lies with you.
It is damn hard to prove that you aren’t mentally ill when bullies attack you from every direction and wear you down. Why? Bullying is devastating to the victim’s mental health.
Therefore, when a person is bullied, they are at their worst.
The natural response is to react when attacked.
The natural human response is to react and defend oneself when attacked. Bystanders can very easily mistake your reaction for mental illness.
It happens when others walk in on you as you’re telling your bully where to stick it. Many times, they only catch the tail end of the confrontation.
Then they draw the wrong conclusions. Understand that this is what your bullies are counting on. Often, this is how they set it up.
Bullies have ways of making you look like you’ve completely “lost it” to any witnesses who happen to walk by.
Bullies do this all the time to discredit you and cover their behinds when they’re wrong! If the bully can make you look loony, then who’s going to believe you when you report the harassment?
And who’ll take you seriously the next time you let the bully have it? They’ll only sigh and think, “Uh-oh! There she goes again! She’s having another mental episode! That girl has gone completely batshit!”
Why Bullies Label You Mentally Ill:
The trick is to stand up to them calmly.
Please, for your own sake, don’t fall for it! Stand up to them! Look them in the eye, and you tell them, “You’re wrong, and you know you’re wrong! I’m not going to debate this any further with you!”
And you do it calmly.
Then walk away, leaving the bully standing there, slack-jawed. If the bully follows you and asks, “What’s your problem?” don’t explain it to them.
They’re not five years old, they already know. And you don’t owe them any more than what’s necessary. Therefore, say as little as possible.
Tell them, “You know what my problem is!”
The bully may continue to follow you and ask, “What did I do to you?”
You say, “You know what you did! Now get bent!”
The idea is not to beat around the bush. Get to the point and say it like you mean it. Be firm but don’t yell (yelling makes you look like a basket case).
The bully may not change their ways or their attitude toward you. But I promise! You’ll feel so much better about yourself knowing that you put your foot down and looked less “unstable” to any bystanders!
2 More Reasons Why Bullies Label You Mentally Ill and Why It Works
Unfortunately, the label of mental instability is the easiest and most effective label to stick to a person. Sadly, a label like this has loads of staying power. Again, it’s the hardest to disprove- especially when the object of it is being bullied and mobbed.
If people bully you, there’s a good chance you will be an emotional wreck. Chronic abuse does that to victims. So, there’s another reason the mental label is a clever label to pin to them.
The label is only used to discredit you.
When bullies label you as bonkers, it doesn’t mean they actually think you are. Allow me to explain further.
Bullies are big cowards. If they really and truly thought you were cuckoo, they wouldn’t mess with you at all. In fact, they wouldn’t come near you. Instead, they would do everything they could to stay out of your way and avoid poking the bear.
They’d go out of their way to be on their best behavior around you. Why? Because they know that if a person is, in fact, cray-cray, that person could rip their heads off and poop down their necks.
That person could go postal and wipe them all out, then go home and eat a sandwich. If a person with any common sense knows someone who is factually and utterly batshit nuts, their first instinct is to walk lightly around them. And they will do their due diligence to keep from setting that person off!
So, if your bullies don’t really think you’re unstable, why then do they label you as such?
4. Why Bullies Label You Mentally Ill:
To discredit you.
Your bullies aren’t clueless. They figure that eventually, you’re likely to get fed up with their crap. You will either report them or stand up to them.
And if everyone thinks you’re cray-cray, who’s going to take you seriously when you report the bullying?
5. To make you afraid to speak out or stand up to them.
They do it just in case you begin standing your ground or speaking out about the abuse. In other words, bullies employ this tactic to keep you quiet. Why?
Because if they can silence you, they can keep their reputations spotless. Moreover, if you know that people think you’re unstable, chances are that you’ll be too afraid to open your mouth about it.
And why not? Because you’re “mentally unstable,” people probably won’t believe you. They will only say that you probably have a severe case of paranoia.
6. To discourage you from defending yourself.
You’ll also be too afraid to fight back. If you do, you know that the bullies will only convincingly reverse roles and play victim.
Then, others will only assume that you went postal and hurt those poor, innocent bullies. Maybe they’ll think that you just threw a temper tantrum and began shouting and cursing people out for no reason. All because you’re “unhinged.”
Again, it’s true that your bullies can never prove you’re mentally imbalanced. However, there’s also no way that you can confirm that you aren’t. And it’s why this label is just too easy to pen on someone and make stick. In fact, it shouldn’t be this easy and be so successful. But it is.
Do you see how this works?
Why Bullies Label You Mentally Ill:
Your bullies don’t think you’re nuts, they think you’re weak.
They only push that label because weakness or helplessness has a certain allure. And your helplessness may compel others to come to your aid.
Helplessness sparks a natural tendency to take care of the helpless. However, people are less likely to help someone they deem mentally ill.
Bullies instinctively know this. So, they label you mentally unhinged to strip you of that allure and appeal.
With the mentally ill label, bullies are better able to avoid being held accountable. And if they can successfully dodge responsibility, they get to continue hurting you freely and with impunity.
Therefore, you must understand that there’s a method behind the label of mental instability. If you’re aware of the motives behind it, you’ll be able to catch it and counter them with it.
7. To control how others view you.
It’s the oldest and most used tactic in the book! My classmates were no different. Bullies will always come back at you with the “mentally ill” label to control how others see you. And they’ll do it when they can no longer control you.
You see? When bullies no longer have power over you, they become anxious. They see you as a threat. So, they become desperate and afraid.
Refusing to be manipulated sends several messages to your bullies. And these messages threaten their sense of superiority, positions, and power.
Why Bullies Label You Mentally Ill:
What are these messages?
- You see through their smokescreens.
- You’re not afraid to tell them to go kick rocks.
- You’re the opposite of what they think of you – strong and intelligent, not weak and foolish.
- You put them in their place.
- They can’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.
- You don’t give a crap about what they say or think anymore.
- You couldn’t care less about their approval.
- They don’t matter to you anymore.
- You no longer accept their definitions of you.
Understand that bullies have an over-inflated sense of their own importance. Thus, they feel entitled to mistreat you. They despise being told no, and they loathe anyone who will not be controlled. So, they use the mental health label to stigmatize you.
Then they weaponize it to punish you.
Therefore, if they can’t manipulate you, they’ll manipulate your relationships and the way others perceive you.
In closing
Attaching the mental illness label on someone is the worst form of gaslighting there is.
Once you understand the reasons and motives behind the mental illness label, everything makes perfect sense. As a result, you will feel a lot more confident in defending yourself. You will no longer be afraid to speak out. And you will no longer care what others think.
Knowledge is power, and it can bring peace of mind.
This post was all about why bullies label you mentally ill so that you realize the motives behind it and will be encouraged to defend yourself anyway.
Related posts you’ll enjoy:
1. Bullying and Mental Health Stigma: 5 Reasons Bullies Use It
2. Bullying Based on Mental Health: 9 Reasons Bullies Target Those with Mental Illness
3. Weaponizing Mental Health: 7 Reasons Bullies Label You Mentally Ill
4. Bullying Those with Mental Illness: 9 Reasons Why People Do It