We are an invisible minority

People with schizophrenia are an invisible minority. I’ve been diagnosed with an illness, schizophrenia, that I don’t notice, that other people don’t notice. People tell me that I’m normal. I remember being in a crowd of people at a party thinking if I told them I had schizophrenia they would be surprised because I’m good at blending in. There’s nothing about my appearance or behavior that indicates schizophrenia or any other mental disorder. I don’t stand out from the crowd. I speak clearly with no accent and I interact normally with others. I wear the same clothes that most other people do. I look ordinary. I’m a thirty something white male, average height, thin build, heterosexual, with a part time job, and my own apartment.

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Don’t rub it in - Only kidding, good for you :smile:

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i have my own spaceship, and i don’t blend in.
take care

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Is that good for you? Or
Bad for them?

I especially like the part you say about speaking clearly with no accent.
Wasn’t aware there was a SZ accent…hehehe.

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one poster here once said sz sufferers are warriors of god. i see some validity to that. where “god” i would render “reality” to avoid all the dirty connotations that symbol has picked up. those with sz have the open-mind and gentle nature befitting true men, and for that, they suffer in a world that demands deceivers and closed-minded men.

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People generally don’t know that Im schizophrenic. But I do tell people when I meet them because I think its something interesting to tell them about myself. You know schizophrenia is a rather interesting thing to tell about yourself. Its a rather in depth subject which can give rise to conversation…well it certainly does that on this web forum.

You’re kidding of course.
Unless these people are someone you will never see again?

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It’s good for me because they don’t know unless I tell them.

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…and after you tell them, do they hug you and invite you over for lunch with their kids?

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i like being invisible, i like getting lost in a crowd,

its when someone points you out or singles you out is when i have a problem.

i’m glad i’m not famous anyway.

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My big brother tells everyone about his Sz. He just blabs it out there. I’ve heard him introduce himself like this.

He even tried to scare away people who were looking at the apartment next door. He would stand outside and garden or prune the rose bushes and when people came to see the apartment next door he would tell them “Do you know that if you rent this place, you will be living next door to a schizophrenic?”

He said this once when I was outside jumping around trying to get my nephews kite out of the tree, but the people looked at me, looked at him and told him, “It must be hard being a parent of a mentally ill child. Is she on medication?”
They didn’t take the place.

Thank you for letting me post

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People know I’m weird and awkward sometimes thought disorder takes over plus my social skills are poor but that’s all they know about me and once I know people I calm down but not always. People may suspect something about me particularly if they see my scars and my odd behaviours at times but I’d never dare tell I’m schizophrenic to casual people and not even close friends unless necessary the only other people I intend on telling are any partners I may have hopefully not scare them away. I feel like I get judged harshly enough without the label so avoid telling anyone about it. Sometimes I want to shout at people my achievements that seem like nothing to people who haven’t suffered this way but are incredible for someone like me the fact that I get up every morning, trying to hold conversation, leaving the house this is some things people take for granted just being 21 is an amazing achievement for me so I often feel invisible in comparison to the achievements of others my age and I’m sure many of you feel invisible too because people don’t understand unless they’ve been there and I find that schizophrenia only gets attention when there is violence attached to it to continue the myth that we’re all dangerous. There is such a lack of understanding, still!

I understand where you’re coming from I come across as high fuctioning once
I know people and are not in an anxiety provoking situation or state of mind. So it’s tricky because people don’t suspect and then one off day or you accidentally reveal it that relationship can go copput or you’re judged, treated differently, I feel like I’m constantly on egg shells around people. Just know you’re not alone or invisible here, take care, Meg.

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Well I sort of relate, but I have lots of friends and they all know all about my illness, they watched me slowly become ill and slowly recover. My new friends know because I met them in the psych department at school and everyone there knows about my schizophrenia because I told the class I had paranoid schizophrenia after giving a presentation on it (I got an A on that presentation by the way), but they respect it and they know exactly what I have experienced, they also know my my meds work and how I am recovered with meds, they answer test questions about people like me.

My professors know too. I’m like the in-house little schizo expert (I am schizophrenic, I know it from the inside and out). I am concentrating in behavioral neuroscience and schizophrenia is a hot topic in my classes, and I always clear the air about misconceptions or fine points about medications and symptoms, and since I have the diagnosis and went unmedicated for a year, the professors and students know that I am a reliable source of everything schizophrenia related, and they take my word as the final word when there is a question about it. You wouldnt believe the common misconceptions about schizophrenia, it’s truly the most misunderstood illness.

I have met some people who have other disorders, psych students themselves, and they sort of revered me, they said it was amazing to meet a recovered schizophrenic who is studying psychology, in the honors program making A’s on a full scholarship and all that jazz.

with my GPA and senior thesis, along with my personal statement when applying for grad school, I should be pretty good. I will probably get accepted to great schools (they love recovered schizophrenics) and get scholarships to good schools. I turned schizophrenia from a crippling weakness into my greatest strength after I found the right medications and entered remission. I decided that I had invaluable insight into the most mysterious and horrific psychological disorder and that I may as well use what I could take for granted.

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a man shouldn’t make any symbol for himself. it only serves to anchor the spirit and keep it from evolution. to say “i am schizophrenic” is to see yourself for the shape that is drawn by the definition. it is to dis-allow the mind to take authority and become “less schizophrenic” or “non-schizophrenic” or any of the infinite shades in between.

No, Im not kidding! I do tell people. I do think its an interesting thing to say.

It doesn’t embarrass me at all. Look, if I heard a guy from school who I haven’t met in a while, if I heard he had schizophrenia, I would think that’s interesting, no doubt.

Yeah, interesting to you I understand, but how many people give you the treatment #3 (yeah, yeah, right, right, sure fine, fine) as they nod their heads up and down with a strained smile, then you realize you haven’t seen them since?