i have found that being open and honest about my illness reaps serious rewards,
like apart from the weight of it on my shoulders dragging me down and the stress of keeping it a ‘secret’ its still an internal conflict about outside perceptions about how i am treated with this disease.
but i have gotten over this this by speaking to certain people i could trust good people that i know wouldn’t judge me and would listen to what i have to say and who could empathise with me,
i was talking to a really nice girl lately and she is in my class and i told her about my struggles and she was telling me about some of her struggles as well, its good to talk to people about it and get it out in the open i think it helps me to try and get over it and deal with things,
i hate bottling it all up, we need to come out of our stigmatic closets and be heard, (by the right people of course)
i guess i am saying its all to do with who you tell and what/how you tell them, i haven’t told anyone i have schizophrenia but they know i have had serious mental health problems and i have anxiety.
the reason i haven’t mentioned the ‘s’ word is because it has really negative connotations so i use other more acceptable words that are more user friendly.
Good job! I 'm doing the same as you, tell some people about my illness, but initially mentioning it as a psychosis, as many don’t know what this word exactly means. But in the past, I used to tell everyone on the internet I had sz or even fought with people on the net! I didn’t understand it back then, and I sounded ridiculous!
Yeah not being open about it has caused me issues before and continues to cause issues. I’m just SO self-conscious about it. I’ve been taught my whole life to hide stuff like that. I’m working on coming to terms with it and trying not to feel so embarassed and nervous about sharing it with people. I mean, my future husband is going to have to know. Heck I was too nervous to even tell a neurologist and that’s a professional!
there is a girl i know that i text sometimes and i told her and she is ok with it, and i even told her i had the dreaded ‘s’ word and that i take medication for it,
so unless she forgot ‘which i doubt she would’ she knows,
but she can also see me for what i really am and that i am stable and i can tell that she is someone i can trust and that is why i told her,
we are supposed to be meeting up sometime but idk when and we were at college together.
For me people know right off there’s something seriously wrong with me but my obvious symptoms are the same as somebody with adhd so that’s what I tell anyone that needs to know like employers.
I’m not in denial or ashamed I just don’t know anybody I would tell.
It’s odd I’ve seen people that are normal by current standards act totally irrational compared to somebody with sz.
That’s why I have the opinion that because I’m aware that the delusion and voices aren’t real they are just a more extreme ideosyncrasy than most people have .
Except if I was getting married or had a girlfriend I definatly think my wife should know and girlfriend if we were in a relationship longer then 4-5 months or so.
i told people in my counselling class that i have had serious mental health problems and i take medication for it,
i also described some of my feelings about it like how i was scared to tell people because of what they might think and how there is a stigma about it and they were totally ok about it
they were saying that it was brave of me for opening up about it,
it was a counselling group session and totally confidential so that made me feel better knowing that they have all agreed to keep it to themselves,
I am quite open about it. I like to be evidence that schizophrenia does not equal worthless or pitiful. I am neither. I am worth something to others and I am literally and figuratively strong, if I might indulge in bragging.
I actually make it look good. No, I’m serious. I’m an outlier and skew the whole concept.
I don’t know people to tell outside of family or occasionally on a non mental health related forum
My stepmother sent me a link thinking I was bipolar she was surprised but not negative when I told her what my past and present diagnoses were/are.
If I knew more people in 3d I would tell them of symptoms more than diagnosis as the descriptions of my current dx are very negative about people with the dx.
I used to want to tell the world about my diagnoses - Now that I have grown up some more, and have more common sense - I dont feel as it is any one elses business. I mean I have to tell doctors and medical professionals, because they basically have to know, but I avoid telling others, because most people could care less about which illnesses you have.
I dont feel that it is my job to educate neurotypicals on my symptoms - If I ever get close to someone on a romantic level, then I will tell them, when the time is right.
Besides many ignorant people, and believe me most people are ignorant - believe that people with severe mental illnesses are either stalkers or axe murderers and prone to violent behaviors.
I don’t have to tell anyone either, because I doubt there is one person in this town that doesn’t know thanks to the openess of certain people in my past that felt the need to share it freely.
Yea I kept it bottled up and still do. It might be fine to tell friends and schoolmates. But I tell it to my doc. Most people in my life have their own problems and don’t want to hear yours.
I’m glad you have found friends to accept and share.
But unless you are looking for accomonidations at work and or school, I would keep it a secret. It’s nice to be a stigma fighter. Bravo.
But employers still don’t want to deal with it. get the job first and tell them later after you are a proven employee. If you tell them first, you may never get the job and they will just make excuses there was someone more qualified.
How can you prove discrimination? It happens all the time even though it may be illegal.
I was an excellent employee at my job, always had the best reviews, and was still discriminated against because of my mental illness diagnosis. You are right, employers dont want to deal with it
I recently told people about my experiences. My bf has told his parents that I’m sza but we don’t think they understood what that meant. Then this week his brother is in the hospital and got admitted to the mental health unit to get his meds squared away before going to rehab. When he got agitated and upset about being there I calmed him down by telling him my experiences of being hospitalized there. I’ve been there 3 times. I didn’t tell him about the sza because he wasn’t in the mindset to understand but I did tell him my substance abuse issues and overdose which is why he was there and he could relate to that. The nurses and bhua’s were all the same but nobody said hi to me, so I thought that was very professional of them (hippa and all). I think I kind of shocked the parents but helped to “normalize” the situation for them. I felt good that I helped calm him down, I was a little embarrassed telling them all.
someone asked me my diagnosis today and i just said ‘i don’t like to say what it is bc i know people might think badly of me’ maybe people would not understand,
the woman ran a support group for alcoholics and other people and she invited me to come, idk what i would say but i think it would be interesting, don’t think i’ll go though.
it really depends on the situation for me tbh, like how long i’ve known then and if i can trust them, what they are like.
so it’s a mixture of things that lead up to the right feeling that make me decide whether to tell someone,
so far i have told about 4 or 5 girls that i was at college with, one of which i still talk to and she is ok with it, i had to tell my course organiser at college as well but not on my new course,
on my new course i haven’t told anyone i have the ‘s’ word but i have told people i have had a serious mental health problem and that i take medication for it.
if i was going for a job a wouldn’t put it on my cv or anything or tell an employer unless it was absolutely necessary.