--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Mental illness didn’t really change…" description: "\"“Mental illness didn’t really change people. It just made them more of who they were going to be anyway. Mental illness was less like obliteration, mor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/321/heather-sellers-19870_illness_mental-illness-didn-t-really-change-peop_2265024.png" --- # Mental illness didn’t really change people. It just made… ![“Mental illness didn’t really change people. It just made them more of who they were going to be anyway. Mental illness was less like obliteration, more like italics.” quote by Heather Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/321/heather-sellers-19870_illness_mental-illness-didn-t-really-change-peop_2265024.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/321/heather-sellers-19870_illness_mental-illness-didn-t-really-change-peop_2265024.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/321/heather-sellers-19870_illness_mental-illness-didn-t-really-change-peop_2265024.png) > ““Mental illness didn’t really change people. It just made them more of who they were going to be anyway. Mental illness was less like obliteration, more like italics.”” [Heather Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-sellers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mental illness amplifies existing traits rather than completely altering personality, highlighting underlying tendencies. **In simple terms:** Illness emphasizes who you already are. Key Takeaway Recognize and support underlying strengths. Themes mental health identity self-awareness Mood thoughtful empathetic Type reflective insightful When to use this quote - therapy sessions - personal relationships - workplace accommodations - self-reflection Key Concepts psychology personality stigma Questions to Reflect On - How does this view affect stigma? - What support helps amplify positive traits? A Different Perspective Illness can also cause new challenges beyond existing traits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Change People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-people/) [Illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illness/) [Illness Didn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illness-didn-827315/) [Mental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental/) [Mental illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-illness/) [Really Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/really-change/) ## Related quotes > [At the time I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, my doctors told me that I had an incurable illness and they didn't know much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ann-mobley/at-the-time-i-was-diagnosed-with-crohn-s-disease-my-doctors-told-me/) [Mary Ann Mobley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ann-mobley/) > [When my Mom first told me about her illness, I didn't cry, and that shit hurt a lot. 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Get educated because bias is no different than racism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/mental-illness-is-not-something-you-misunderstand-in-this-era-get/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [I think we need to talk about mental illness a lot more. People complain about tax dollars and say we don't have the money.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nia-long/i-think-we-need-to-talk-about-mental-illness-a-lot-more-people/) [Nia Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nia-long/) ## More by Heather Sellers > [“When you write, you believe in something no one else can see. You spend lots of time committed to a project for which there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-sellers/when-you-write-you-believe-in-something-no-one-else-can-see-you-spend/) [Heather Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-sellers/) > [I started writing everything down.I wrote for the same reason someone lost sticks a message in a bottle. I’m here. Help. Please find me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-sellers/i-started-writing-everything-down-i-wrote-for-the-same-reason-someone/) [Heather Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-sellers/) > [Trust the comfy clothes you reach for day after day, your plain, regular, essential self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-sellers/trust-the-comfy-clothes-you-reach-for-day-after-day-your-plain/) [Heather Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-sellers/) > [“I loved the idea of a subversive world where mental illness was defined as just another version of normal, and education was how you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-sellers/i-loved-the-idea-of-a-subversive-world-where-mental-illness-was/) [Heather Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-sellers/) > [“I giggled and he took it very seriously and wrote everything down. I thought it was going too well, I was doing too well,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-sellers/i-giggled-and-he-took-it-very-seriously-and-wrote-everything-down-i/) [Heather Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-sellers/) > [“Writing a book is exactly like love. You don’t hold back. You give it everything you have. If it doesn’t work out, you’re heartbroken,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-sellers/writing-a-book-is-exactly-like-love-you-don-t-hold-back-you-give-it/) [Heather Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-sellers/) > [“You don’t have to have clarity,” he said, “to take a clear position.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-sellers/you-don-t-have-to-have-clarity-he-said-to-take-a-clear-position/) [Heather Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-sellers/) > [“Don’t get sucked in, Dave was always saying to me. Kind of like Helder’s container idea: Notice everything, but don’t buy into it. Hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-sellers/don-t-get-sucked-in-dave-was-always-saying-to-me-kind-of-like-helder/) [Heather Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-sellers/) > [“I was going to be in therapy for a long, long time. I wasn’t even a sentence yet. But I had some syllables, some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-sellers/i-was-going-to-be-in-therapy-for-a-long-long-time-i-wasn-t-even-a/) [Heather Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-sellers/) > [“As children, we are profoundly loyal to our parents, and to their pain: I wanted to be related to my mom, not ruined by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-sellers/as-children-we-are-profoundly-loyal-to-our-parents-and-to-their-pain/) [Heather Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-sellers/) > [“The railing of the balcony was cold but the blue-black night air was so warm in October, in Florida, it felt as if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-sellers/the-railing-of-the-balcony-was-cold-but-the-blue-black-night-air-was/) [Heather Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-sellers/) > [“I think everyone has one day like this, and some people have more than one. It's the day of the accident, the midlife crisis,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-sellers/i-think-everyone-has-one-day-like-this-and-some-people-have-more-than/) [Heather Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-sellers/) > [“Find ways to develop self-awareness so you know what you do well... you do a thousand things brilliantly, and if you don't know what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-sellers/find-ways-to-develop-self-awareness-so-you-know-what-you-do-well-you/) [Heather Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-sellers/) > [“Off and on for many years, I tried to write a book about my childhood. I’d bring chapters to workshop, to writing group, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-sellers/off-and-on-for-many-years-i-tried-to-write-a-book-about-my-childhood/) [Heather Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-sellers/) > [“In childhood, it’s our parents who give us our standards for experience: “Here’s an inch,” they say. “And this is a foot.” And a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-sellers/in-childhood-it-s-our-parents-who-give-us-our-standards-for/) [Heather Sellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-sellers/) [Explore all 32 Heather Sellers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-sellers/) ## More Illness quotes > [Telling a story of illness, one pulls a thread through a narrow opening flanked on one side by shame and the other by trivia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/telling-a-story-of-illness-one-pulls-a-thread-through-a-narrow/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [Death is in truth an illness from which we recover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/death-is-in-truth-an-illness-from-which-we-recover/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [This tendency to avoid problems and the emotional suffering inherent in them is the primary basis of all human mental illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-r-swindoll/this-tendency-to-avoid-problems-and-the-emotional-suffering-inherent/) [Charles R. Swindoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-r-swindoll/) > [I think we need to talk about mental illness a lot more. People complain about tax dollars and say we don't have the money.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nia-long/i-think-we-need-to-talk-about-mental-illness-a-lot-more-people/) [Nia Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nia-long/) > [I've always been interested in medicine and was pleased when my brother became a doctor. But after thinking seriously about that field, I realized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-medicine-and-was-pleased-when-my/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [“Mental illness is not something you misunderstand in this era. Get educated because bias is no different than racism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/mental-illness-is-not-something-you-misunderstand-in-this-era-get/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. 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But actually, it is about allowing myself to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-i-get-afraid-it-has-defined-me-that-sense-of-grief-loss-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's more common than not that bipolar illness will start in the teens. One of the reasons I spend a lot of time on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/it-s-more-common-than-not-that-bipolar-illness-will-start-in-the/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [You cannot drive a system that's going to be aiming at preventing illness if everyone is not in it. The whole gaming of health…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-oz/you-cannot-drive-a-system-that-s-going-to-be-aiming-at-preventing/) [Mehmet Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-oz/) > [There are people with much bigger profiles than mine who are talking about mental illness. I am going to try to use whatever platform…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mauro-ranallo/there-are-people-with-much-bigger-profiles-than-mine-who-are-talking/) [Mauro Ranallo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mauro-ranallo/) > [Severe illness isolates those in close contact with it, because it inevitably narrows the focus of concern. To a certain extent this can lead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/severe-illness-isolates-those-in-close-contact-with-it-because-it/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) [Browse all 2,209 Illness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Mental illness didn’t really change people. It just made them more of who they were going to be anyway. 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