Most vulnerable amongst us

Have you ever noticed that other people seem to be afraid of people with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders? I wonder why. To me, after meeting all of you, I think we are all the sweetest and sometimes most vulnerable amongst us. I know I would never hurt a fly even while psychotic. I feel that none of you would either. I mean it’s just like with the rest of the population there would be a certain percentage of the population that would be violent and unpredictable. But it seems to me we are viewed as being more violent. I think it’s sad that people are missing the opportunity to know us for who we really are. I guess that’s the stigma you guys are always talking about. How sad.

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Yeah. When I told my mom I was mentally ill she said. When r u going to kill me? I was so hurt.

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This is so true. People with sz/sza are feared thanks to misconception fueled by movies and TV shows making sz out to be psychopaths. And general uneducated opinion that thinks all mental Illness is scary.

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I agree with you, @Leaf .

That said, I don’t think the general public will ever feel that they’ve missed an opportunity to get to know us.

If we want a seat at the table we’re going to have to bring our own chair. And maybe our own table.

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Just the way it is. We’re classed as a risk when psychotic, and it can make people do pretty stupid things. Rather than blaming the individual, they should start focusing on the treatment that could have prevented the issue being serious and reported in the media - whatever it may be.

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Maybe people generally think we would precieve reality in a distorted way or different what mostly is. Cause i think i dont know what people think of me and i think i should know but i seem to not even care. Thats when i differ from others cause others always know what is thought about them. And if i bring the thought futher…mmm well its an unknown area…a person walking around who couldnt care less about how people think of them.

Just wanted to add that people in general dont like things that areare not ordinary. Everything new is something to fear about.

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I have always believed, the violent ones were lying, to get away with their crime and make schizophrenia a scapegoat.

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When I was in the hospital, my friend who visitted me every day wanted to bring another friend of ours. That friend took three days to work up the courage to come inside because he wasn’t sure he could stomach seeing psychotic people.

I’ve always been a chillaxed person. Nothing gets to me. However once I started hearing the internal voice I have become severely irritated by it and feel hostile towards where it’s coming from. I am well restrained but feel this voice is pulling my life down and keeping it there. And part of me wants to strike out at the owner of this internal voice (which I don’t believe is myself).

When I was in school I was shy and I used to sit alone and other teens thought I was going to kill everyone and some of them where scared of me, I only know that I am a good person and I will never hurt anyone unless I had to defend myself

it’s a proven statistic that you are more likely to be struck by lightning than be attacked by a schizophrenic. we are mostly just a danger to ourselves when delusional…at least that is the way it was with me when I was ill.

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The title of your post really resonates with me. I always get confused when someone acts funny around me, like I’m going to hurt them somehow. Like, I’ve come clean with my 27 Facebook friends about my sza and some of them have stopped commenting now.

It’s me who is the vulnerable one. All me.

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They reported on the news one time, that a study showed that 25% of people don’t want to be friends or have a person with a mental illness near or in their home

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Wow, that’s really small minded, isn’t it?

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Yeah kinda scary how negative many are

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I’m ugly because I struggle with illness all day.I don’t like my body or face.It scares people to see someone so damaged.My father doesn’t accept my illness and he calls me idiot due my intelligence.He says “you are not ill,you are moron”.

My mom made it very clear she doesn’t like people with MI because “you never know what they’re going to do.”
She told me the best thing for me was to not call or come around, so I respected her wish and stayed out of her life for over 4 years.

Until one day she needed help because she’s getting to old to take care of herself, and there was no one else there- my dad had passed away, brothers lived too far or couldn’t be bothered…and there I was, 10 minutes away.

She reluctantly allowed me to take her to her Dr’s visits, pick up her Rx’s, grocery shop, even 4 surgeries in 3 years were I had to stay at her house for 3 months while she recouperated.

What do you know, she says I’m ok after all.
Really?
I didn’t change, but she did.

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Yeah, most people are scared and rather just avoid it all together, mostly cause they don’t ot just won’t bother to understand it

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Unfortunately it affects so few of us that it’s easy for most people to ignore (shun) sz patients and their problems.

It would have to take a major celebrity getting sz and having a major breakdown and personality change for the disease to come into the public discussion. Unless it happens to Taylor Swift or Chris Hemsworth, nobody seems to care.

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Jeeze if one of us became successful and famous like that they would instantly change our diagnosis anyway. If we even get stable on meds they change our diagnosis to bipolar or some weird personality disorder.

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