How do you deal with people with phobia of the mentally ill people?

Should i just keep away from them. Not live with them in their neighborhood…like in the same appartment building?

I have noticed they are normal.to me as long as nobody have said to them im mentally ill.

I dont really have much advice, but I feel like that fear is just perpetuated by the media and stigma…

I love that word stigma. I think im a stigma of my family. Love being a stigma.

The best way to fight irrational fear of mentally ill people is with exposure and education.

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One of my friend’s daughter is very phobic of me. If that daughter thinks I am hanging around her mother, she cuts off contact with her mother and prevents her mother from seeing her grandchildren. I think her daughter is so cruel. She hates me with a passion. And there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. I have been dealing with this for the last fourteen years.

When I was in high school, everybody knew I was different. I was isolated, mostly, and because I never had a GF, people labeled me “gay.” The same people from HS were even more revolted when the truth of SZ was known. “Gay” is something folks can understand, I guess, just like “alcoholic.” But “schizophrenic?” WTF is that? And even my own older siblings never bothered to do any research re: my illness. I know they’re merely afraid of it, esp my brother. My sis is too stupid to be able to distinguish mental illness from personality foibles.

On the being educated about it thing, you can lead a horse to water…

Overall, though, I find acceptance to be about 50:50; maybe better.

Men at my workplace think im crazy. So my solution was keep smiling …be in a happy mood all the time…time. showed that it worked and they relaxed about me.

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This is mostly what I do, except with niceness. It gets tiring.

This is a little off topic but I used to be scared of drug addicts

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I try to educate people whenever I can. I’m not “out” with my diagnosis except to close family and friends, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still advocate and inform people when I hear them have false concerns about mentally ill people.

Once I am at a place in my life where my future is stable I think I would like to come “out” about my illness and be like an official advocate.

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I’m only “out” about my MI to two people here at my senior living establishment. And they are totally cool with it. But, I am moving out of here in another month and a half and I am telling no one in my new apartment complex about my MI status. Nobody need know. It’ll just create enemies. Either that or make me vulnerable.

I think people that fear the MI probably have some of it themselves. I don’t want to sound evil but I even feared it when I was dxed psychotic nos. It was new territory for me. So I deal by explaining to folks how it affects me. I don’t say that I see or here things but I tell them that how I perceive the world is different. I deflect but I still try to educate. :slight_smile:

Put music to 11, dance backwards around them in a circle

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Ha! So I scare you, lol.

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I give them my medication and tell them they will be alright.

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People will always be afraid of what they don’t understand. What mental illness really is is a mystery to most people I think, it is even to me. I think what’s called for is a little patience with people who don’t know what it’s like. I know it’s hard but just saying “hi!” Gives people I think a window into your mind to see that you’re really a nice person. There really is a lot of stigma out there…some people I think don’t understand that there’s a difference between being a psychopath and having a disease. It’s very confusing to some and that fear is based on ignorance. But that’s what forums are for :stuck_out_tongue:

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I have normiephobia.

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Both of my parents are. I’m constantly held to the same standard as a fully functional, perhaps over achieving individual. Whenever I get a little schitzy I try to isolate myself because my mom will get very very scared if I start rambling or looking around wildly. Her being scared in turn makes me scared of myself. As for people, I maintain the mentality that if they are prejudice, they’re not educated about the illness, and if I can I educate them. As far as people at the workplace, or others that you don’t have a choice of removing yourself from, in my opinion you should try to conversate with them. People have this stigma that’s been indoctrinated through media and stories so breaking the stigma with a polite conversation is very possible in my experience.

I’m the same way.

I deal with them by avoiding them like the plague. I also don’t reveal my MI to anyone.