Like if you have just one of the currently “popular” mental illnesses, ie anxiety and depression, you get praised for speaking about your experience, people get scholarships, asked to speak at events, etc.
What do you get if you are open about your psychosis? You get your license taken away or your right to become a nurse or medical practitioner or really anything questioned. You lose. This should not be the case. Depression/anxiety can affect functioning and cognitive ability just as much as psychosis can. Trust me I know as I’ve been there.
I’m sorry you’re feeling bitter @Anna. You’re right that some mental illnesses still seem to have more stigma and less understanding by the general public than other mental illnesses. It’s not fair and that has got to change.
There are some folks who have been diagnosed with sz/sza that have been open about their experiences with psychosis, Elyn Saks and Cecilia McGough, come to mind, and there are others. These brave and accomplished people who are willing to put a human face to sz/sza will hopefully shatter the stigma once and for all.
I never heard of people getting scholarships for anxiety or depression and those are pretty paltry in comparison to schizophrenia. I even tend to think bipolar is nothing compared to schizophrenia, although I believe it’s case by case.
I believe schizophrenia can be held against us professionally or it can be viewed as something to overcome. If you have schizophrenia, and recover, it might help you get into a university or something, especially if you have a co-morbid condition like Aspergers; they might feel sorry for you.
I agree with what you’re saying and we should not alienate ourselves against those with “lesser” cases of mental illness. Luckily for me, I don’t think my ability to do math will be judged in certain careers due to my schizophrenia. It may be enhanced due to my illness but so far I struggle with cognitive decline. Furthermore, I cannot be a pilot, which is something I’m okay with. I’m not interested in the medical field anymore or law. I had to lower or change my expectations.
I know someone who got a scholarship for being an advocate for anxiety and depression just saw her post about it and instead of being happy for her like a good person I was salty ah well. There was another guy I know who won awards.
I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me. I want to be seen as being just as competent if not more so than the average person without psychosis. Because I am, damn it.
I’m not even calling them lesser like I said depression & anxiety can be just as debilitating and can ruin peoples’ lives. As someone who has experienced both psychosis and depression, I like to actually say that depression is worse because psychosis is not always bad for the person experiencing it, sometimes it can be extremely exciting or even enjoyable. Depression is NEVER a good time.
ah well. There was another guy I know who won awards.