I hear so much talk about busting the stigma of mental illness and I want to know how to do this. For example, I have a blog where I am upfront about my struggles. (sort of like on this website) I know of a professional schizophrenic writer and mental health advocate who seems irritated by my rants. It is as if my honesty is making schizophrenics look bad. Do you think being too open about my delusions and hallucinations publicly makes us look bad? Do you feel like pretending to be like everyone else does a disservice to busting stigma? Is there room for both points of view?
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I donāt think you can be too open but what my psych docs have always said were delusions were reality for me. I still believe most of my delusions but I now recognize that others think I am just delusional if that makes sense.
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@TomCat I am definately delusional too. Today I thought I saw someone driving through my neighborhood from this website. (probably not them) LOL
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My general rule: donāt tell anything to anybody. Iām not concerned with politics or breaking stigma. Iām concerned with healing myself and blending in. Thatās just me though.
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I think itās more a matter of where we are with regards to breaking stigma.
Weāre still young with breaking sz stigma, so maybe getting our foot in the door with āweāre just like you in most waysā is a good place to start. Then after a while when people start to not think of us as dangerous freaks we can start being more open with the real severity of the struggle.
Does that make sense?
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This is probably the reason why I canāt seem to publish anything. Everyone wants to put a positive spin on things and focus on recovery. I keep talking about the worst of times in terms of my mental illness. Call me delusional but I do think my blog is ahead of itās time. I just write for fun and to vent. I hope no one who reads my blog gets scared of schizophrenics. I do think there are a lot of misconceptions in the media. Last night I was watching the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and a lady called someone two-faced or two different people. Her husband replies āDo you know what that is called? Schizophrenia.ā Oh brother!
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im open and upfront about it and what i experience/experienced because i dont think its anything to be ashamed of
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I hate reality I would probably love living in a dream and working while living a normal life. Everything is boring now.
Iām upfront with people I trust, like close friends and family. I know they wonāt judge me, and theyāve always helped and supported me.
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One time I went to a mental hospital and no jokeā¦ Have you seen The Strain that evil vampire lived there! That place was haunted!
There was that groupe anonymous for alcoholics I was sitting with them and nobody seemed to care itās like they couldnāt see him! It got close to a girl and it seemed it was whispering to her. The girl then started talking weird. Only I could see it for some reason it was crazy!
Wished I could go back and visit that place to do some recon. But Iām thankful I beat this far. Everything now just seems pathetic wished I could make a dent near the Pacific Ocean. In a good way but come to think itās probably not a good idea.
I find that when I disclose my health condition as in, āI have an illness, I deal with it, I kick assā, people are down with it and there is no discernible stigma. I went through a phase early on when I was unwell and my idea of disclosing was more like, āALIENS!!! SURVEILLANCE!! OMG, WHY IS IT MELTING?!? THE PAIN!!! AAAAIEEEEEEEE!!!ā Yeah, that doesnāt really go over well or bridge any sort of gap between us and them.
Any sort of disclosure works best when it is delivered with a strong dose of self-assurance and the perception of stability.
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I am still delusional which keeps my reality exciting I guess. I am on Vraylar and have breakthrough symptoms. Are you happy with your antipsychotic? Mine isnāt perfect but I am too scared to try a new one that doesnāt work for me.
I have a WordPress blog with only 36 followers. I think I am mostly ignored because I am open about the schizo and put it out there for a curiosity. When I ask them if they are scared, the answer is no. I think that mostly they perceive that my delusions are delusional and a waste of their time.
I too am on Vraylar. It doesnāt work that great, although today was a good day. I came home from group for alcohol & drug and realized how hurtful it is when people level accusations at me, sometimes for little stuff. Dunno, but something turned my day around. Iām treated mostly with respect, but with a little suspicion, too. However, the non-schizos say some outlandish crap, too. Maybe thatās why I felt better 
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This is the assimilation argument, an argument that communities which have been historically disenfranchised need to adopt the ideas and culture of mainstream society to be accepted. Weāve seen this argument in the civil rights and gay rights movements, respectively.
I do not think that being open about your delusions and hallucinations makes people with schizophrenia ālook bad.ā You have a podcast, but youāre not the only person with schizophrenia who has a podcast, so I donāt see you having undue influence in the representation of a person with schizophrenia.
As to pretension, I do believe itās counterproductive in overcoming stigma. In fact, it creates stigma within our community, and harms people who are more symptomatic than others. A distancing, or chasm, based on a degree of symptoms.
I believe the most effective way to reduce stigma is not by suppressing those of us deemed unacceptable, but by embracing the experiences of all people with schizophrenia.
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I suppose it depends on the reader. I know when I read memoirs and blogs I want to read how it really is for that person. I want to hear about their challenges, their thinking, what they are going through and how they are trying to handle it. I mean otherwise I feel like itās sugar coated and I learn very little about their struggle.
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I think itās important to be open about when it becomes relevant.
If your illness is all you talk about, people will get bored of it and think you have nothing else on your mind.
But if you share it when itās relevant, people will respect you for being open about it.
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I think open is betterā¦ but i heard another sz say they want their work to stand on its own without the sz label or not at allā¦
I understand both and i think this choice
Is individually decided ā¦ but could change at any timeā¦and sometime best intentions fall short of realitiesā¦
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Iād rather be known as āthat photographerā rather than āthat schizophrenic photographerā. Whenever youāre an artist, people will attribute your creativity to the SZ rather than to you. Seriously? SZ kills creativity. Those things Iāve accomplished artistically have been in spite of having SZ, not because of it. Please donāt give a crap illness that has degraded my quality of life the credit for my achievements, thank you.
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Iāve got a blog too, and Iām an open book about my struggles,
but I donāt just talk about schizophrenia, all my creative writing and art
is on there too, and activism, and stuff on my kids.
What exactly are your ārantsā like? Iāve never gotten anyone say
Iām doing more harm than good to break stigma. By having a very prolific blog open to anyone, I was harassed in the work place over it. The guys was constantly putting down ācrazyā people, and the mentally ill anytime I was within earshot of him. It wasnāt sexual harassment, it was over my disability. There should be laws that prohibit use of social media to cause you distress.
Iām open book on Facebook too, but you have to be willing to take some heat,
though Iāve proven Iām not a total crazy woman, I do get called names by certain groups.
Also, Iām a published author, and my first book of poems,
This Sky I Know
is a lot about schizophrenia. so, yeah, be upfront about it.
It was a lot easier to do that to sit down on Day 3, and tell Phil.
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