I’m curious as to why I see so much talk and comparison with “normies.” Why do you see yourself as different to other people?
People without schizophrenia have their own set of problems, I guarantee it. They could have mental illnesses of their own, or physical, or be supporting a loved one with MI or physical problems.
Aren’t we all just human?
Does separating us from them perpetuate stigma?
Just thoughts, what are yours?
I think it does perpetuate this sense of not fitting in. I don’t refer to my friends as normies at all. They’re just my friends. Everyone else is just a person, regardless of MI or lack thereof.
I’m very guilty of doing this. I think its because of
Yeah, I don’t really think of it this way. I’ll use the term in reply to someone else using it/making the distinction first, but honestly I don’t know if I’ve ever met someone who would qualify as a “normie” - not someone I know well anyway. Everyone has their own issues and damages to work around.
in real-life, I get that a lot towards people outside who I can’t relate too.
fun fact: I didn’t know the phrase “normie” until I came to sz forum.
I very very rarely use it, unless an OP uses it.
There is a standard of thought and behavior that is widely accepted as “normal”. The range may be quite wide and varied, but generally speaking, it’s a standard. I don’t like the term “normie”, but I do use the term typical to describe someone who does not struggle with their own mind.
A typical will very likely fall into predictable patterns of behavior and beliefs, whereas someone who is not typical will have less predictable behaviors and beliefs…
I have a somewhat extreme sense of separation from humans in general. I do absolutely see myself as different from atleast the majority of society, and judging by the reactions I tend to get from people, the majority of society sees me as separate as well.
Finding this forum was my first experience at finding an entire group of people with whom I can relate. The distinction exists whether we talk about or not.
i try not to distinct people like that except my in laws but they consider themselves normies and act like they are better than me.
I don’t feel this way around normal people but this forum is drawing us together because of sz. So on here we have something in common that they don’t understand so this to me is a little part of the world were I can vent and not be judged for me having sz. But in everyday life I don’t differentiate however I do have a bond with MI that I don’t have with norms. A different type of bond. I’m sure norms differentiate, they would say there definitely not one of us.
If I could relate to normies on more than a few things, I wouldn’t feel so different. But most of the time they’re like aliens to me.
The term “normie” was always a tongue in cheek phrase for me because there are so many illnesses these days that “normies” are a decided minority. There aren’t that many of them. “Normal” is just a setting on the washing machine.
Totally. You are not imagining it. The differences can vary from subtle to explicit but they exist. How can people with depression for example not be different that people who had never experienced it?
Differences are everywhere - they just shouldn’t justify discrimination, disrespect or violence towards others.
I struggle with this a lot. I think many of us don’t get out much because of our illnesses but if we do we would see that here are all types of people with issues out there. Like handicapped people for example, how do they feel? Or the lady that needs to bring her dog with her everywhere she goes to calm her anxiety.
If our symptoms are under control then that is all you really can ask for. Schizophrenia isn’t the type of person you are there are good and bad in every group. It’s an illness but just like the rest of the world no two people are alike so to say that all schizophrenics are a certain way is false.
I went to a dual diagnosis meeting last night(I don’t have sz, I have bipolar disorder). There was a guy there with sz that was acting and talking more normally than I could with a number of people there. He looked so comfortable sitting on the wall smoking his cigarette that I would never have known there was anything wrong with him. If you can form relationships,be somehow productive, and not go around committing crimes then nobody can say ■■■■ about you. After all do we really need to know what’s going on in everyone’s head all the time?
All you can do in this life is keep your head down and go about your business. Everyone is just trying to get through it the best they can and nobody is perfect
Well said MG!!!
I agree with @anon84763962 - Well said @MeghillaGorilla1
It’s definitely me vs Jehovah’s Witnesses. Freaky blighters can stay off my property.
lol, no … I’m talking about “normies” and that they ain’t!
You mean neurotyipcals? They’re just inefficient. Feel kind of sorry for them.
typical schizophrenic contrarianism. I think it can be contained if you work on it.
I think you have a very good point but I’ll admit that I tend to gravitate toward disabled people. They don’t have to be mentally ill but since I grew up in and out of hospitals and clinics where kids with Down’s Syndrome and no ears were struggling to get by, I’m afraid there is a line I see and I am more comfortable on the disabled side of it, in general. I may be difficult because the “line” showed up in infancy while people consoled my mother over having been given a “deformed” child. In other words, the line was created by others and I simply felt wise to keep on one side of it.
Nevertheless, no one in my family (or my husband’s) is disabled and I don’t feel any sense of difference that keeps us from relating to one another. They’ve certainly got their struggles and I am not with a lack of empathy. Still, their struggles are often of varieties that I don’t have experience with and won’t feel super-helpful if I try to offer assistance.
I don’t feel a difference that justifies feeling that “normies” are “different” to the point that we ought to be separated mentally; I simply feel a stronger empathy for the world I know, as a general rule. Still, there are “normies” that I’d do about anything to help. I don’t intend to keep us separated; I simply admit to a comfort zone that reflects the multiple disabilities that I have and what growing up with them did to my social ideas.