I want to but my personality is shy and I am an introvert . Plus it would be hard to reveal my problems to the public. I don’t mind telling people that I have sz but if you tell tons and tons of people it would be hard.
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Maybe we can find somebody on this site that would try to be an advocate.
No. I want to remembered for my art, not my schizophrenia.
i actually want to place myself out there to talk about this type of stuff.
i did the same for my eating disorder.
so i would like to do the same for schizophrenia.
currently applying for this case study @Ninjastar mentioned.
it comes with risks such as invasion of privacy (which is a number one for me)
but hey…
if i can help out, i will.
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I don’t know if I could be an advocate for sz because idk if I have it really. I was diagnosed sza by my pdoc but my situation is so bizarre and my therapist has a diff diagnosis for me so I don’t really know. But I’d gladly be an advocate for people with psychotic disorders in general, once I’m in a place where it won’t risk me my career.
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@Ninjastar is a sz advocate…!!! She is doing fine…!!!
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I would like to move to a place where I am in less need of one to a point where I could help someone else. It would be tricky though. What if you fought to get someone released from a hospital and something bad happened to them?
You would carry that with you for life I am sure. I have respect for these people as what they do is not easy or should be trivialised.
What if you were the very public face of schizophrenia and then had a very public and embarrassing relapse? AA discourages members from becoming spokespeople for other members for a reason. As the Big Book says, “the good quiet example speaks for itself.”
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Relapses are embarrassing anyway and generally unpleasant - I am already a pariah in my community so I feel I have nothing left to lose in that respect… I don’t think people who experience Sz should be excluded from the public face of the illness. Wouldn’t that be counter-productive in reducing stigma?
I think people need to see the nature of it to understand that we’re not violent people as portrayed by media sources who jump at a chance to make the link to MI to use as an excuse. You never see ‘completely normal average guy murdered someone’ being pointed out.
As for your point about discouraging helping others with the same Dx, I get that in terms of being an advocate. What do you think about peer support?
Two words: Demi Lovato
I try and do peer support online for SZ. I gave up on it in meatspace – I’m so high-functioning that I’m not welcome at support meetings. Really.
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I don’t know who Demi Lovato is. I see from wiki she is some kind of voice for MI. Has she done something to make things worse?
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She sort of became the public face of alcoholism because of her single “Sober”, and then she had a very recent public relapse. Seems like she left rehab early as well. Those loud percussive noises you may be hearing are AA members facepalming worldwide.
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pixel. Elyn Saks is the public face for schizophrenia. If more people like her would speak up, there would be less stigma and more understanding for our illness in this world. You can be an exemplar, an ideal of hope for all mentally ill people to strive towards.
I’m not like her, therein lies the rub. Also, I don’t do attention and crowds well. I have a hard enough time at work when my boss singles me out in front of the rest of the staff to give me a gift card for good performance.
Then I must in due course. My company is the pioneer in inclusion and diversity initiatives. We had a mental health week where a senior manager shared in front of 200 people her bipolar experience.
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Maybe at some point I’ll reconsider, but I also don’t want to be public right now while I still have a kid in school. While I’m not all that worried about how stigma affects me, she is still at an age where it can hurt her. I also have to consider how my actions (public and private) affect those I care for. And since I generally don’t care for most people, I need to step extra careful for the select few I am particular about.
i want to be an advocate for all mental illness sufferers, its part of why i want to be a psychiatrist. to help and advocate for them. i also want to prove you can be successful despite a mental disorder (or two, or four 
)
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I’d love too and would do a great job! I can get on well with most folk and I could make it work but my work history these days is a big indicator.
I’m slow. It takes time and I’m unable to have much energy. I get frustrated and around people I get paranoid because of stress. I do what I can these days but stress kills me.
Until some better meds I wouldn’t risk it. I still get breakthroughs and I’m reluctant to increase my antipsychotic. It’s worked well for over a decade now!
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