Support for anyone witha mental disorder
Support for anyone with"The first and second times I went mad, I got professional help - hospitaliztion and drugs - and stayed crazy for months. The third time I got help from a friend who wasn't scared by what was happening, because she'd been there herself, and it was over in a few hours."
"To normal people we're crazy but maybe their the ones who are crazy. The doctors tell us when we're sad that we're suffering an illness, if we're cheerful we're suffering an illness, if we don't act like them, then we must be crazy, after all aren't we all suppose to look and act the same at all times?"
I would never blame the parents or family of
a person who develops kidney disease.
I would never describe a person with
Multiple Sclerosis as emotionally weak.
I have never heard a newscaster describe
a violent criminal as slightly asthmatic.
I have never heard that a person with Arthritis
has a diminished learning and mental capacity.
I have never asked a Cancer patient to "snap out of it".
I would never describe a person with a heart disease
as lazy because of the limitations of their illness.
I would never fear a Diabetic because they might be contagious.
I would never say that a person with Leukemia
is to blame for their own illness.
I would never expect to go to a theatre to watch a movie
based on the unusual antics of a person with Cerebral Palsy.
It is, after all, the 90's and we are more knowledgeable
and
sophisticated than ever before. I would wager that you would
never make judgements, either.
But I live with a mental illness and all of the above have
been attributed to me and others in the same situation.
As seen in "Discovery", Vol 14 No. 2, March 1999, Depression & Manic Depression Mutual Support Group of the Natiional Capital Region - Ottawa, Ont. Canada
Telling Is Risky Business [ A book about MI ]
Mental Health Consumers Confront Stigma
by Otto Wahl
Foreword by Laura Lee Hall, Director of Research, NAMI
"Dr. Wahl respectfully records the impressions, experiences, and views of those who are so scandalously treated by our society. And it is their testimony that is the bell weather of mental illness stigma."
"These revelations by psychiatric survivors should shatter stereotypes forever. Otto Wahl's book is must reading for policy makers, media makers, and all informed Americans."
"Dr. Wahl's book gives those who suffer from mental illnesses an eloquent voice. Through their own words, consumers allow us a glimpse of life as they know it, struggling to overcome devastating diseases while withstanding the misconceptions, isolation, and discrimination--the stigma--that society imposes upon them."
Individuals with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression have a double burden. Not only must they cope with disabling disorders, but they must also contend with the negative attitudes of the public toward those disorders. To truly understand the extent of this stigma, we need to hear from the consumers (the term used in this book for people with mental illnesses) themselves. Telling Is Risky Business is the first book to examine what these people have to say about their own experiences of stigma.
The center of the book is a nationwide survey in which mental health consumers across the United States were asked, both through questionnaires and interviews, to tell about their experiences of stigma and discrimination. The research comes to life as many of the over 1300 respondents' acute observations are reported directly, in their own words.
"Telling Is Risky Business" vividly covers topics such as isolation, rejection, discouragement, and discrimination. Consumers also offer perceptive observations of how our society depicts people with mental illnesses. The book ends with suggestions for strategies and coping; an invaluable section on resources available for fighting stigma guarantees its place on many bookshelves. As Laura Lee Hall writes, "This book will likely open your eyes to a topic that you probably did not understand."
Otto F. Wahl is a professor of psychology at George Mason University. He is author of Media Madness: Public Images of Mental Illness (Rutgers University Press) which received the 1996 Gustavus Myers Award as an Outstanding Book on Human Rights in North America.
256 pagesRutgers University Press
Paper, $20.00 US 0-8135-2724-4
Cloth, $52.00 US 0-8135-2723-6
R.D. Laing(1927-1989) felt the mind, like the body, has its own natual healing mechanisms, and that mental illness isn't an "illness" at all but the mind's attempt to heal the wounds inflicted by an insane society. In his view, it was not women and men who are crazy but the world around them. Given support and asylum from the "slings and arrows" of the maddened world, their condition will resolve itself in greater sanity and emotional stability. Laing opposed medication for even the most severe mental illnesses, believing any medicine or therapy aimed at adjusting the individual to society disrupted the healing process and forced clients into a toxic, dysfunctional world that would only wound them.
There is a mad movement in North America and perhaps the world that us crazies might be getting over treated, making pharmaceuticals quite rich and helping the life styles if the doctors.
One link to this movement is the Citizens Commission on Human Rights
Whether or not you believe all of what the movement has to say, you will have to admit having the support of your peers (; people as crazy as you ;) can be a great help.
"We need support, love, human contact - the same things everyone else needs. Opportunities. Experiences. Once you become instutionalized, you go into a shell. Once you have the opportunities again, you blossom."
| S | Sharing | Of yourself and others sharing with you | |
| E | Enjoy | The challenge of getting to know you | |
| L | Learning | More about yourself, your mental health, learning of more resources and learning about others and how they cope | |
| F | Friendship | Many group members reach out to each other and have formed friendships which go beyound the mailing list | |
| I | |||
| H | Helping you | Understand you and your medications, getting out and doing things, listening and talking to others, reaching out to others | |
| E | Energy | It takes a lot of energy and time to give to yourself. It lso takes a huge effort to be part of any parnership | |
| L | Listening to youself | Sometimes you are right on target - if you are not sure, talk to someone. Listen to others, you can learn so much by listening to the shared experiences of others | |
| P | Patience | Learning about yourself is a life-long journey. Take life one day at a time. When you do something good, pat yourself on the back. Enjoy your life and be proud of who you are!!! |
An example of rationalizing social sadistic tendencies by Doctors to their patients is
"I rule over you because I know what is best for you"
