I was diagnosed in 1997 with schizo-affective disorder. Since then I have
been trying to get, at least my family, aware of the stigma placed upon the
mentally ill. I have to admit when I was younger, I too mentioned those
words "weird" and "crazy" as a common occurrence. Now that I have been
through the stigma or discrimination of mental illness its frustrating. In
the past decade we have made progress, yet we are still so very far away. I
believe that discussing or passing out pamphlets on this 'taboo' subject in
schools is an excellent and maybe in some cases life saving action. I would
like to think that if I were 16 again and mental illness was discussed and
understood on a school level that part of my life would have more positive
memories. Since 1997 I have been trying to find a role model with the same
disorder to no avail. Instead I hear about people's lives being taken by
someone that couldn't control their actions and/or feelings. Hence the media
blaming mental illness. However, I know many (mentally ill) law abiding
citizens who have never thought of committing a crime!
Schizo-affective and proud
Kristin
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