Identity and Mental Health: A Focus on the Impact of being seen as Different
(Part 2 of 2, of a summary of a presentation given by Professor David Divine by invitation to the annual staff conference of the Aberlour Child Care Trust, Scotland, on the 24th of October 2018, in Stirling, Scotland)
In my blog article of 8th December 2018, I outlined in part 1 of the above summary how the perception of difference, how we see individuals who appear to be different in some way to ourselves and placing a negative value on that aspect of their identity, leads to how we treat them and often this is not recognized by ourselves. It is how everybody around us views it, common sense, taken for granted, no need for examination. If you like, that is the way it is.
In part 2, I wish to explore how this process of viewing others who appear different to ourselves involving a distancing of ourselves from that aspect of difference, has an impact not only on those defined as not being part of the club because of that identified difference(s) but also on those making such judgements and having the power to do so.
- ‘Distinguishing between those who belong to the human race and those who are decidedly non-human’ turns the spotlight upon ourselves.
- ‘The resources available to us for benign access to each other, for vaulting the mere blue air that separates us, are few but powerful: language, image, and experience, which may involve both, one, or neither of the first two.’ (p36)
- Such language, images, and experience can limit our capacity ‘to remain human and to block the dehumanization and estrangement of others.’
- ‘Why should we want to narrow the distance (between us) when we can close the gate?
- There are No self evident strangers-No such ‘Others’.
- ‘There are only versions of ourselves many of which we have not embraced, most of which we wish to protect ourselves from. For the stranger is not foreign, she is random; not alien but remembered; and it is the randomness of the encounter with our already known-although unacknowledged-selves that summon a ripple of alarm…rejection’ p38-39
- Leading to denial of your personhood-your identity.
In those of us viewed as ‘different’ in some aspect of our identity, how does being seen as ‘Other’ feel as the designation and subsequent associated actions play out in our lives?
A vivid and poignant example of being seen as ‘different’ and paying the price of such a categorization is evident in the testimony of Dr. Edith Eva Eger, a survivor of Auschwitz. Not visibly ‘different’ but part of her identity- her religion, Jewish, marked her out as ‘Other.’ Her testimony is painfully, beautifully outlined in her memoir, The Choice (2017).
In terms of sexual orientation and beginning to feel that one is attracted to someone of the same gender identity and gender expression, an adolescent growing into adulthood, and someone already in adulthood, knows that he already feels lovingly and sexually attracted towards others of a similar vein, one of the best-published accounts to date about this ‘invitation’ and likelihood to being ‘Othered,’ and how it was dealt with by two individuals who connected, is wonderfully and realistically portrayed, in the novel (2007) by Andre Aciman, now, a major motion picture from Sony Pictures Classics, titled ‘Call me by your name (2017).
When you, or those who care about you and Love you, become aware, that in the society where you live, there is no recognition of your humanity, identity or actual and potential contribution to society, there is a consistent, continuous, assault upon your wellbeing and of the wellness of those who care about you. Your overall health is affected.
James Baldwin, eloquently in his entire body of work outlines the impact of being seen as ‘different’, ‘Other,’ in respect of being Black in the USA.
In conclusion, we need to change the narrative of seeing others as different to ourselves and placing a negative value on that difference. This takes courage, thought, re-imagining and choice.