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Pete Davidson Responds to Trolls Suggesting Mental Illness Means He Can’t Be in a Healthy Relationship

pete davidson ariana grande mental illness stigma bpd

It’s been a big week for shutting down people who feel the need to publically share their opinions about Ariana Grande’s personal life. First, Grande schooled a dude who suggested she was responsible for her ex Mac Miller’s relapse, DUI, and car crash after they broke up.

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Now, Grande is rumored to be casually dating SNL’s Pete Davidson, and some randos on Twitter are implying that she’s making a mistake by dating someone with borderline personality disorder.

Davidson, who has spoken openly about his mental illness, responded to the ignorant shaming via an Instagram story. A screencap of the Notes app reads, “Normally I wouldn’t comment on something like this cause like fuck you but I been hearing a lot of ‘people with bpd can’t be in relationships’ talk. I just wanna let you know that’s not true. Just because someone has a mental illness does not mean they can’t be happy and in a relationship. It also doesn’t mean that person makes the relationship toxic. Everybody is different and there are a lot of treatments for mental illnesses and I have done/am doing all of them. And I encourage those who struggle to seek help as well it has changed my life for the better.”

As someone who is married to a person with bipolar disorder, I’m so glad Davidson is shutting down the idea that a person with mental illness is inherently toxic, or that they’re not capable of being in a healthy relationship. Yes, even with all the treatments available, mental illness can add a unique set of challenges to a relationship. But every relationship has its own unique set of challenges. Everyone has their own shit they bring to a relationship. Hopefully, all partners involved will work together to help each other through whatever that may be.

Davidson’s note went on to say, “I just think it’s fucked up to stigmatize people as crazy and say that they are unable to do stuff that anyone can do. It’s not their fault and it’s the wrong way for people to look at things.”

It’s unfortunate that Davidson has such ignorance aimed at him. But even more upsetting is thinking about all the non-famous people, the young people, and anyone without a support system, who may not be seeking treatment because they’re worried about the stigma that’s still so widely attached to mental illness. For those people, the jerks who shame Davidson can be creating real damage.

“I’m simply writing this because I want everyone out there who has an illness to know that it’s not true and that anyone who says that is ill and full of shit,” he writes. “Mental illness is not a joke it’s a real thing. There’s kids out there killing themselves. And it’s fucking horrific. For all those struggling I want you to know that I love you and I understand you and it going to be okay.”

(via Jezebel, image: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

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Vivian Kane
Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.

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