Most people I’ve talked about it were pretty cool about it. Religious people thought that I had demons, so they’ve tried exorcisms on me (which didn’t work).
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The security guard who watched me in the er until I could go to the phsyc hospital was deeply religious and thought I was possessed … He carried his rosary to work the last 2 days… Despite all I was doing was watching TV lol… He was nice enough… But I think he thought my Sz was contagious… Or my demonic possession would jump to him…lol…doesn’t help I houdinied his ass twice so I could go smoke a CIG and get a candy bar and had to knock on the er door so he could let me back in… He swore I disappeared right in front of him…lol…poor guy…
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I don’t think you need social credibility to be like Elyn Saks. But you need some guts anyway. We develop it with time.
There’s that guy from IHaveSchizophrenia channel (Youtube) and he talks about his schizophrenia openly. There are other people on Youtube who do that too (there was a recent topic on this forum about a guy with long hair creating videos on Youtube).
I think my entire family knows about my schizophrenia. Some of them don’t understand the stuff but others treat me as a “normie” (or whatever).
My friend was asking me about my disease yesterday and it was very kind of him.
“But people can use it against us.” - that’s why we need to be such a badass. People who do this don’t deserve respect until they change their mind.
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Brugluiz we MUST SHOUT about our disease.
Because only through telling our problems and describing them and making them understand how we suffer
and how difficult this disease is and how it harms our functioning, people can pay attention and better treatments
(and hopefully a cure) can emerge.
Otherwise people just won’t pay attention and nothing will be done to help us.
At the same time I want to add a WARNING.
There are some people with this disease who are high functioning.
Who can hold a demanding job.Who are cognitively fine. Such people sometimes like to shout Hey, look at me!
I have schizophrenia and I am successful.
Such people are relatively lucky. But they should be careful.
Because there are people with schizophrenia who CAN’T succeed, and are desperately waiting
for a cure or better treatments. And when people hear that you have schizophrenia and are successful,
it may cause the WRONG impression that nothing should be done about schizophrenia.
So you, the high functioning, can tell the stories but should remember to also tell people THE FULL PICTURE( and not
just your individual case).
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I wouldn’t say that these people are relatively lucky. They had to struggle to get better.
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brugluiz the main point is that they should be careful. whether they are lucky we can argue.
But the main point for such people is to be careful.
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We need people who have schizophrenia to say: “Hey, I have schizophrenia and I’m succesful.” Think it’s harsh or not, but their recovery depended on diligence.
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How do you measure success? Financial, marital, number of friends, family life?
Really the only measure of success in a capitalistic society is financial, surely? And that takes a measure of psychopathy with the ability, want and need to exploit others?
Is this really a measure of success?
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brugluiz look. they can say it SO LONG AS they don’t damage other people.
You should understand that there are tens of millions of people for whom recovery with the current treatment options
is impossible.So those with schizophrenia, even if they are successful, should say that schizophrenia
is awful and destroys the lives of tens of millions of people worldwide.
And a cure or at least much better treatment should be developed for them.
Rather than just selfish bragging. Because it can become simply an ego game.
So such people(successful schizophrenics) can tell their story but say that for many under the current conditions
recovery is impossible, the disease destroys their lives and a solution must be found.
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I think success comes from acceptance. When you accept the disease and start to understand that you’re a human being (with good times and bad times) who has a challenge as any other, you have success.
But there is a lot of types of success. Standing on your own is one of them.
I agree with @flameoftherhine. We need a spokesperson. The youtube videos might attract people who want to make fun of our condition. I think it should be a serious effort that is put forth to help us.
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Uhum. Maybe I don’t know yet how bad this disease is. But a thing that I can tell is that my therapist had to open my eyes because I was very negative (maybe I opened my eye for myself). I thought the disease was the end. I’m not telling that people need therapy. I just had this experience other person. Then I started to read some comments on this forum. Things like “don’t wait for meds” makes sense for me now, but when I was very negative, it doesn’t. Things like “do something to feel better” makes sense for me now, but when I was very negative, it doesn’t.
Maybe I’m not comprehensive, but neither my therapist was careful when she told me that I wasn’t taking therapy seriously.
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look mat. I think that first of all, this is a philosophical question.
For me success is when a person is content with his life.
Many schizophrenics(including in this forum) are rather miserable, wait for better treatment and feel that schizophrenia
destroys their lives.They are not content with their lives(including me).
Usually they have objective factors supporting their problem(for example they can’t work or study)
So basically, what you are saying is that anyone with sz should stand up and say they have it, as each individual’s measure of success is individual and personal, however, society’s success is based on different goals i.e. financial, having a family and children and all of the other social norms which szs have trouble achieving.
When they do achieve normalcy they should tell everyone they have sz is what you are saying, no? Perhaps you are right, but what percentage of szs achieve normalcy in reality when it is said the majority of sz don’t even realise they are ill?
This is the problem szs aren’t normal and aiming for normalcy is often unachievable. The medication isn’t at the stage of majority recovery or even normalcy, until that date there is little chance, either in society or individually.
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People can be cruel, I know for fact the people damaging my work equipment and calling me from private numbers, know I have it and are playing on that. People might not say anything to your face, but they will when your not around
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Look brugluiz. It is very well known( and you can read about it) that some people are able to recover and some(a lot)
are not. Most people don’t make a full recovery.
I am very glad for you that you managed to improve but I urge you to feel the suffering of others.
A positive approach is very good, do the maximum etc.
But not enough for many.
Perhaps you are already content with your life and if so, I’m very happy for you.
But a lot of people with schizophrenia are struggling and suffering and they wish for better treatments.
I’m all for a positive approach and doing the max and not waiting for meds to do things.
I do all of this and still we notice( as do tens of millions) that this disease causes us serious problems,
preventing us from living the lives we should be living.
A psychiatrist who discovered schizophrenia called it dementia, which mean he met people in a very bad situation.
I am glad that your case is such that you have managed to improve in a big way.
I appreciate your resilience.
But you should also think of others who need your help with better treatments, you should also think about them
when talking about schizophrenia.this is my point.
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I was not afraid to tell people. I think it just cost me my job. Never again.
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Uhum. I’ll think about that next time I open my mouth. Things are not the same for everyone.
When they feel good about themselves, they can post a testimony. They’re not obliged to do it. They can have the choice.
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The myth that it is impossible to improve will hold you back. Everyone has differing levels of recovery.
It’s like that for most mental illness. There’s high functioning bipolar, depressives, anxiety disorders. All sorts.
I think what your getting at is you don’t like people showing off. And just to be humble and successful.
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