Are you out?

Hey fellow sz’ers. quick question: are you out regarding your dz? are you one of the brazen few who let people in on your mental health? or are you on the sidelines, waiting and watching? and if you are of aren’t out, why?

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Some people know about my sza, but most do not. It’s not something I hide, but I don’t typically broadcast it, either, other than one facebook post a while back.

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Are you kidding me?
I dont usually make a habit of telling strangers about my SZA diagnosis.
Too much stigma and hatred will come my way.
When I went to the ER - the doctors and staff treated me like trash, after they knew that I suffered with SZA.
Wasnt a pleasant experience.

I basically keep it to myself.

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very few people know. I decided I will never again talk about mental health to others anymore.
It has to be a secret.

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I am sorry @Wave I got a lot better treatment over here. Not sure why. Everyone was nice to me. But the humiliation is enough by itself.

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@Ninjastar does that. She is brave. I told a few people outside my family and it felt like there was too much pity on me. So much so that it was hard to have a normal conversation.

I think ninjastar said she tells others to show how sz are just people. To do something like that, I would have to change my opinion about my disease in the first place. I think I still let it define who I am, and the disease itself frightens me. How do you sell the idea that its not a big deal to people when even I don’t believe that?

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No.

I have only some family and two friends that knows.

(One has sza)

My primary care doctor doesn’t even know,

Because if he did, he would treat me differently.

Some of my behaviors are pretty obvious red flags,

If you spent the day with me, you’d pick up that something is a little off,

But I’m not going to tell you I’m schizophrenic and have OCD just to explain.

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I’m sorry to hear about that experience, people in those positions shouldn’t prejudge but I guess it does happen.

While at work one day, I was approached by an older gentleman. He spoke one sentence to me that had no logic or sense to it (I’ve tried to recall what was said, but can’t). He was well spoken so immediately I thought maybe he was reaching out to me. I spoke in turn and nodded my head yes very slightly to imply yes, I am a person with sz. He looked at me and made a gesture of wiping away a tear. It was unspoken but clear what had transpired. That’s as close as I’ve come to disclosing.

Oh, btw, there are two Ted Talks from professionals with sz. Wish I were as brave…

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I’ve told people who I thought would care to know. Most don’t give a rat’s ass about it or me.

I have only been Dx with MDD, but i lied my butt off to the psychiatrist about a couple of little things.:expressionless:

I dont tell anyone everything. And almost no one knows anything at all.

about why, I think i should keep my mouth shut if i know what is good for me.

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My Family doctor thinks that I have Bipolar.
I told him this.
The stigma is way less.

But u have negative symptoms, bipolar ppl dont unless its caused by their depression, right?

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I have Schizoaffective disorder - bipolar type.

Personally, I let everybody know. I live in an assisted living center. We’re conspicuous when we go to town, so there is no point in trying to conceal my illness. If you’re working among people who don’t know, it is probably a good idea to keep it to yourself.

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But this is not same as bipolar. I dont feel like whipping out dsm but from what i remember bipolar dont have negative symptoms. But if they do, the only difference is u get psychotic episodes even when ur not having a mood episode. Does that describe u?

My psychiatrist now feels that I suffer with Schizoaffective disorder, because I am constantly paranoid, even when my moods are stable.
I also suffer with Negative symptoms when I am not depressed.
Two different Psychiatrists in the Psych Hospital recently diagnosed me with Schizoaffective disorder bipolar type.
My current psychiatrist agrees.

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They had me wrongly diagnosed with sza for a long time and i didnt advocate to change it much. But then i got extremely pissed off cuz i was going through so much due to sz, i felt my diagnosis didn’t do my suffering justice. Sure sza is less stigmatizing to normies, but when ur around ppl who are familiar with MI, sz is a baller-ass diagnosis to have. Prolly ppl think it’s worst MI to have.

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Btw on saturday night live, comedian Pete Davidson disclosed he had border-line personality disorder and depression. The more ppl do stuff like that the easier it gets for all of us. I just disclosed i had sz in my mindfulness group to a room of bipolar ppl this week.

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Good for you @Esm!

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