What are your thoughts/experiences on this topic?
I am doing research for a project on this, and I would like to hear your opinions. I am not a stranger begging for info, I have chronic paranoid schizophrenia and over three thousand posts on this site.
And what helps fight stigma the best?
People believe Iām hallucinating all the time. People canāt understand why I donāt āget betterā with time.
hello,good afternoon,i think the best way to fight stigma is to not talk about mental illness if your not asked,unless your with someone with mental illness.On Wednesday,i went to visit doctor in Singapore and after the doctors appointment I then go with someone similar with me to eat something.I showed him my bill of psychiatric consultation and medication just to show him its really expensive with meā¦I donāt know why then he talked out about my mental illnesses so loud and I was kind of fear that the bunch of girls next to our table would hear itā¦I will never talk about mental illness again easily even with people with MIā¦
The best way to fight stigma is donāt let other know if possible,unless they are your close family other than that donātā¦
most common stig would be that were crazy and we will murder you children or family, and we should be put downā¦so most people would not understand or associate with anyone with a mental illnessā¦so thats why you dont tell them unless you donāt give a crapā¦
I hope I would not give a crap about what other think of my mental illness but I am really fearful of being excluded especially since i live and survive in a environment with no people with mental illness
The best way to fight stigma is to take responsibility for your disease, get treatment and stick with it, monitor your progress and live as good a life as you possibly can.
Personally the nurses here (Iām in assisted living) donāt think I have sz because I donāt appear /act that way. How am I supposed to act? The way I did when I was severely paranoid delusional and halluciniating before I found the right combination of medicine? Iām still sz, I still have delusions, and occasionally hear voices,but I keep my thoughts to myself husband and best friend. The medications work the best they can without knocking me out like they used to.
And my husbandās sister doesnāt think Iām sz either for the same reasons so I choose to let her believe Iām merely bipolar. Iām not arguing with a retired nurseā¦sigh.
I donāt get out much, so I donāt have a lot of first hand experience. But I do know there is a lot of ignorance involving SZ. Some large percentage of the population still think itās the same as DID, or that ācrazyā is ācrazyā lumping everything under the term ācrazyā. For some reason āpsychoticā means murderous lust to practically everyone now which is dumb. Also, a common depiction SZ is people rocking back and forth, contorting their face or shuffling around an asylum, when its really first gen APs that make ppl do that.
I did recently hear of a story about a group of people who killed someone with SZ because they thought people with SZ kill peopleā¦kinda ironic. I donāt know the source of the story though.
Stigma is bad. I share my diagnosis only with medical professionals and my closest family. Apart from that I try to live a normal life as far as it is possible. Most people think that there is nothing wrong with me and I try my level best to keep it that way by drinking my meds religiously and attending my pdoc appointments. I donāt work and for those outside of my family I tell them that Iāve taken early retirement. I fear stigma as it creates more isolation. Hope this helps.
I like to think I am for a great part in control about how people perceive me. So whenever I tell people, I try my best to do so in a very coherent way. I will only tell to people who have known me a while without knowing about my condition. It is always somewhat like a coming out I suppose. But if I hace shown people who I am, I believe revealing my dx will not change too much. Of course, it is a big thing. But I have my university achievements to show that I have not become stupid. I tell them how difficult it was to write my thesis while being psychotic, and I tell them how difficult it was to beat my own mind and dismantle the delusions by myself. I take pride in this achievement and usually people are impressed. People will be impressed with your story if you tell it the right way, and most imortantly, if you tell it with confidence. It is the form in which you tell your story rather than the content that will stick with people. So yes, I have been through hell and walked to live. Some of my professors I told are especially interested in my experiences; having went through psychoses can give me an edge in the research on these topics, so my condition provides for a particular role within the community I like to belong to (academia).
I try to make fun of it, like when i need something badly from one of my family members i threaten to go crazy, that how i fight the stigma, when they are talking me into something i mention that they are using my inability to persuade me. I fight the stigma by calling for it in a sense of humor. Worst than the stogma is self destructive attitude and self speech, I am mentally ill and cant fight for survival and am a failure, I am terribly bad looking and no girl will ever look at me the way they used to before when I was healthy, I dont deserve to be successful and if i do it is all by chance, they will find out about me. for people who dont know about my illness i dont have a problem at all, if they are talking about mental illnesses i will participate and talk about it too, because it exists and doesnt help to be the lawyer.
The best way to fight it is to be personable and competent, which can be difficult for many szās, myself included. Itās better to try not to brood, which also can be hard for many szās, myself included. I think that in the work place you need to keep your condition a secret, because even though there are many people who will be understanding about it, there are also many people who wonāt. There are always malcontents around who like to kick people when theyāre down.
Stigma is just paying for someone elseās bad behavior. People wouldnāt be afraid of schizophrenics if schizophrenics werenāt committing some outrageous violent crimes.
Everyone acts like theyāre innocent when it comes to stigma but somebody is out there reinforcing these beliefs. Even little things like posting to a forum can add to stigma.
There is stigma attached to all of the Mental illnesses - but when I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, many people had no clue what it was? - When they found it was a form of schizophrenia, the stigma began.
You really can blame Hollywood for fabricating all kinds of misinformation about schizophrenia - we have been depicted as axe murderers or having multiple personalities - the news media are not free from generating stigma as well
I think to fight stigma is to inform and educate people about sz. Iām getting a book published about my journey with mental illness as a means to get it out there and tell people how it really is.
my experience is that the word SCHIZOPHRENIA incites incredible fear into nosy old bag neighbours and general people. but we must ignore this silliness and get on with the business of living our lives as best we can. if you didnāt have schizophrenia and know all about schizophrenia what would you think of it.
people think its
multiple personality
your psycho
generally dangerous.
people fear it but fear holds a certain amount of respect.
rogueone said something to me on here people are going to be idiots nothing you can do about it!
never underestimate the stupidity of people in large group. im just trying to get on with my life if I was on a wheelchair people would be less likely to openly abuse me, try and use me and spread nasty rumours. theyd just think she cant help it well our job is to deal with idiots who donāt understnd it and try to ignore them.
I am considering a NAMI conference next month I got invited it is on the Stigma of Mental Illness. Depends if I can get the money up to go or not. I like your topic. Last couple years of my recovery it is something I think about quite a bit.
I deal with the stigma by being a friendly, open person. In social settings, I speak freely about having schizophrenia, and a few of the funnier stories that go along with it, such as singing along to the radio when nothing is playing. I also answer any questions people have without getting offended, even if I think the questions are pretty offensive. People arenāt likely to be afraid of the friendly girl cracking jokes at a party. I think it helps that I donāt look threatening.
At work, that is an entirely different story. I work in direct care with children with special needs, and I worry that I would get fired if my condition got out to people I work with. People donāt want their kids in the care of a crazy person, even though my condition actually helps me, because I have been through the same system these kids are struggling with. So at work, I keep things to myself.
The stigma of mental illness is within us. When we talk about being ill with sane people, we are the ones who are hurt by our pronouncements about ourselves. A sense of humor helps, but it is no guaranty. Something today is encouraging me in this country to openly admit to being ill. When I open my mouth, the stigma begins. I am talking about something I would rather keep to myself. Other people donāt understand what Iām talking about. Even my family wonāt talk about it though I am right under their noses with it.