Or that you come from a respectable family. Because, tonight, I don’t. Respect is an important part of the way we feel about ourselves and others. A disability shouldn’t make me any the less worthy of respect than anyone else yet I find self respect is missing in my personality. I don’t know how gain it.
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I’m the same and have been thinking about this all week. People seem to respect you for superficial things like having a job or being married. Then you’ll get some respect.
I think if you have any disability then getting respect becomes a problem.
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I come from an ultra religious, backward, college educated family with no money. That’s my immediate family. My extended family is ultra religious and backward with scads of money and no college education.
The question is, do I myself feel respectable? I am college educated and I have a bit of property and money that I’ve saved myself. And I know that Gd adores me. So, yes, I feel respectable most of the time.
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No, today I’m.a lowly human being under the rug.
I know @pob, and I hate the feeling I feel. It’s real though and has to be acknowledged before it will lift.
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Thanks. chordy. That’s the way I see it too. Boo Hoo…
Is a sense of humor in there or is that escapism?
If you want to think of escapism, any human activity could be viewed as escapism - movies, music, games, hobbies, etc. Sure humor isn’t all that straight but it surely can relieve built up tensions.
True respect is an inside job – and it’s not given, it’s earned. I had to earn my self-respect back after I got diagnosed with mental illness. And that’s really hard, you know, because society seems to give up on you when you have a mental illness, especially one that starts with “schizo” 
So, my 8 year anniversary of being hospitalized is coming up. I went from homeless and psychotic to being in remission and a technical writer with a master’s degree. I’m not saying this to brag. I’m saying this because it was hard as hell, but somehow I did it anyway. As a result, I am very proud of myself and I have a lot of self-respect.
I imagine you may want to know my secret. My secret is that I started respecting and believing in myself before anyone else did. Even my Mom. My mom is a good mom, but she was not optimistic about my chances, and she had no reason to be. But when I told her I was going to get better and then live on my own, she supported me 100%. The other day, she told me about how proud she was of me. That means a lot to me because she knows everything – where I’ve been and where I am now. That’s real respect to me, much more than the superficial “respect” society gives people.
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And it doesn’t mean you have to demand perfection. I respect my provider and after living with her for 15 years, I know of her weaknesses as well as her strengths. The strengths win out by a long shot.
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I’m the illegitimate son of Rodney Dangerfield. Like father, like son.
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I think my family is well-received by other people, but they don’t know that I have schizophrenia.
It’s sad that my physical disability is somewhat accepted, but my schizophrenia isn’t- mainly because it is unknown to most people I know in where I live. I wish that people would accept me for who I am, but for now, I don’t really have much respect on that regard.
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