Does it bother you when people who do not have schizophrenia…have never walked in your shoes…try to lecture you on how you should present yourself?
My in-laws in particular can be very condescending and ignorant of what this Sz affliction entails.
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Yeah right. They do not understand the disease and how much influence it has on the rest of my life. But I’m talking about psychosis and not about schizophrenia.
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Absolutely.
I even feel like this toward my doctor.
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Fortunately my employer is aware of my schizophrenia, and my Superiors cut me a lot of slack.
In some ways, I feel they are more understanding of my situation than some of my own family members.
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People who have never been involved. They do not know how serious it is. But you should not blame them for that either. People live their lives as they think is right.
I never make fun of obese people. I understand genetics and medication may be involved. So why should our affliction be viewed any differently? I guess because you can’t tell ‘visually’ that we are impaired…I believe that is part of the problem.
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Yes, that’s the problem. You can not see it on the outside. But when I look for limits, people will notice me. Then they also see that it is not quite right, haha.
They have their viewpoint, which is good or bad, it depends on us.
Good: They treat us like normal individual. And if we perform good enough, we don’t even have to disclose our illness.
Bad: They hurt our feeling if they try to lecture us if we perform not good enough.
Just trying to be positive. 
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Our illness is irrational. I’ve lost my entire family due to its stigma. I’ve been married 11 years and 1.5 years ago was in hospital and my husbands sister decided since I was sz, I couldn’t be around my at the time 9th grade nephew because she feels “too” uncomfortable around me and my husbands family. I might hurt one of them. Mtf ■■■■…sorry but nobody gives a ■■■■ about my illness…they think I just stay at home, pop pills and mooch from the government. I have volumes of stigma stories. Bottom line is the average person will never understand and most wont care
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Yeah, that’s part of why I can’t do this program. There’s just different standards at the professional level that aren’t there for me. My teeth are bad, I don’t have the means to iron my clothes to look nice, I don’t speak as eloquently as I used to. I’m socially awkward. It just doesn’t work.
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I agree. Showering, shaving, teeth…just preparing clothes for the next work day can be overwhelming.
Some days I look quite dishevelled on the job. I have a clean-cut look naturally though, so a lot of times i can fake it and get away with it.
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Yes, it’s all so difficult. It’s so much easier to work a job where they don’t care too much about how you look so long as you do the work well.
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I’m lucky in the fact that I work a blue collar job where appearance-standards aren’t as demanding as other work places.
My whole life I’ve purposely avoided any type of work which carries too much responsibility…fire…police…first responders…bus driver… etc.
I’ve never felt comfortable working in a field where, if I have a bad day somebody can get hurt. As it is, the worst thing that can happen to me on the job, is me missorting a letter/ package…which will eventually get straightened out by another employee down the line.
It pretty much bothers me when anyone speaks to me as if they are higher than me on the invisible ladder. But that’s normal.
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The stigma is real. the amount of times I’ve lost friends cause they found out my diagnosis and suddenly thought I was a murderous sociopath is nauseating.
The hospital was full of condescending turds though. All the docs talked to me like I was 5. It was so shitty.
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Yes the stigma is real. People treat me differently once i told them, and started talking down to me as if im intellectually challenged. I consider my self quite intelligent thank you! (Gives them the finger…)
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No.
People are mostly uneducated with schizophrenia. It’s not their fault. Shite, when I was diagnosed I thought I was developing multiple personalities! Show’s you how much I know!
I live and socialize with a pretty eclectic group. Most are under the radar and have a lot of problems too. I have anxietal and depressive friends and it’s all ok. They know some things…not others. Even strangers at the cricket club don’t know but sometimes I educate them.
People don’t know what you do. That is too much to expect but I’d say to you…that is where you educate them about what really is! You do it slowly. You do it purposely, but you do it!
Have you heard of project 375 wear lime green. Well I wore one of yheir shirts and a 9th grader asked me what mind/matter means. I explained to him to irridaicate the stigma behind mental illness. He said mentally ill people, kill people…so sad
I have to admit I was pretty ignorant of sz before I got psychotic. Never thought it was this challenging.
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Plus med changes change who you are etc. I’m curious why I’m feeling the way I do atm. Is it med change or am I changing