Come On Everybody - Let's All Fight Stigma!

Here is an interesting list of TV shows with mental illnesses ranking how well they were portrayed:

https://m.ranker.com/list/tv-characters-with-mental-illness/alexandra-plesa?var=3&utm_expid=16418821-416.erIinVKzTy2CCIr0DmvMBg.2&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=pd&pgid=144361577286&utm_campaign=Characters_With_Mental_Illness_And_How_Accurately_Theyre_Portrayed&asid=23842953166270694&psid=10156705142477287

@MistyMagic this is not an easy question. The way I protect myself from others stigma about grief and bipolar is to not discuss this with people that are not my closest friends. To me the subject will only upset them or cause a knee jerk reaction that could trigger me. So silence is golden applies in this case. I talk to those who understand at support groups and professionals. More than that only seems to create problems for myself.

@MistyMagic

I learn from you.

@MistyMagic

That's right. Let's All Fight Stigma!

I think a way to remove the stigma is to educate. Stigmas are created by ignorance or myths. I think educating and pointing out the facts could help reduce the stigma. I'm not sure if I have bipolar. A few months ago, I was unaware of most of the mental health issues. 7 cups helped me in that aspect and I think I'm noticing signs of having bipolar. Hopefully, I'll get to meet a therapist next year when I become an Adult 🙂

@MistyMagic

Fight the stigma

There are so many issues with how we understand and manage mental health that I don’t know where to start. Maybe I will start by saying that mental illness is scary. It is scary for those who suffer it and it is scary for relatives and friends. Invisible but overwhelmingly present for those who suffer it, learning that one has to live with this unwelcome, uninvited companion, is a blow.

Paradoxically, this blow also comes with hope. Suddenly there is an explanation to all those symptoms that were at the root of that profound loneliness that comes with feeling different, powerless and inadequate. Being diagnosed also means entering a whole world of healing tools that can improve your quality of life beyond your imagination.

One thing that I find tremendously helpful after being diagnosed is to compare mental illness to any other illness you can think of. As opposed to other illnesses, there is no X-ray or blood work that will confirm the diagnosis. In some cases, a scan could help, but these are so expensive that they are out of reach for the vast majority of people. The first challenge, therefore, is believing that the diagnosis is right.

The second challenge has to do with one’s environment, family, friends, partners. It goes without saying that mental illness is still plagued with stigma. If someone suffering from cancer can turn to their relatives and get their compassion and support, being depressed, bipolar or psychotic makes people turn away from you and look at you with suspicion. From there on, any expression of sadness or anger can be perceived as a manifestation of the illness instead of an instance of someone just having a bad day. Hence the second challenge is to know who you can share your diagnosis with.

But stigma does not only come in your environment. The hardest battle one has to fight against is the stigma one feels inside. I truly believe that life forces those with mental illness to be staunch philosophers. The maxim of the temple of Delphi, “know thyself” is always present, since mental illness calls into question the most essential traits of the self.

What could be more natural for a bipolar person than asking herself, who am I? Am I the one who couldn’t move out of bed all day or the all-powerful who thought the world was her oyster? The shame of not recognizing oneself and what one has done in different circumstances can be devastating. But in the same way that someone who has cancer would never say “I am cancer”, it is fundamentally wrong to identify oneself with a mental illness. Being able to distance oneself from it is crucial to get rid of the feeling that one is flawed and defective. Hence saying I suffer from bipolar instead of I am bipolar can make a huge difference and a direct impact on how we feel about ourselves.

There is this terrible stigma surrounding bipolar d/o and mental illness in general that those with it are totally out of control. I got diagnosed late, in my mid 40s. It’s not that I’m suddenly bipolar. Before this label, I was the same me as I’m now. Yes, my emotions may be deeper, but I also see it as a blessing bc I live life more. I can appreciate beautiful times more and the frailty of life. I cry harder but also get to love deeper...which I wouldn’t trade in for anything.

@MistyMagic

The difficulty that I have found, is in educating people as they don't listen and/or believe in what you say:

- Some aren't interisted or care enough to listen

- Some plainly just don't believe in psychiatric conditions.

- Others regard you as being a bad source of information as, "because you have a psychiatric condition there must be something wrong with your head, so nothing you say can be trusted"

When you direct them to bonified medical information on the subject, they read it as black and white which complicates matters even further as it doesn't affect each individual exactly the same as to what the diagnostic criterea describe as well as the fact that medication influences and alters ones behaviour, muddying the waters further.

My feeling, is the only way a person can really get an, at least theoretical understanding for what it means, is if they have the willingness and care enouth to research the topic and educate themselves. This is hard enough to foster in one's own family, let alone the general public.

I have long struggled with family members that refuse to even believe what doctors and psychologists have to say, on both Bipolar and a seperate physical diagnosis.

For me, the only solution is to self-advocate and where it fails, to accept it as such as it is futile to argue with ignorance. We can't educate the whole world or change the way people act or think, it is not possible, but we can change the way we react to it.

Of course, we can't just lie down and let people walk over us, but at some point you have to decide when it's worth it and when not and to accept that we will never irradicate stigma entirely.

Someone once told me "When a person has a problem with you, it is Their problem, with you and not your problem with them."

@MistyMagic By not judging them.

By being friends with them.