Comments on: Diagnosis, Stigma, Loneliness – and Hope

By: areas of expertise « tofufighting

areas of expertise « tofufighting — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:35:07 +0000

[...] Volunteer, Mental Health Camp, http://www.mentalhealthcamp.org/ See guest blog written for Mental Health Camp here: http://www.mentalhealthcamp.org/diagnosis-stigma-loneliness-and-hope/ [...]

By: Kyle Reynolds

Kyle Reynolds — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:35:13 +0000

I am so glad to see other people being so public and mental illness. I have schizoaffective disorder and have had alot of mixed reactions when it came to friends and family some embraced me others not so much tolerated me to put it nicely. But by coming out i think we are helping others come to grips with there situations with mental illness. You should be so proud of yourself for being honest. Most times the best path isn’t always the easiest. I have found to that by telling people I weed out the ones I don’t need in my life that being the one’s without open arms.

By: Evan

Evan — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 21:33:30 +0000

Thanks Adrienne. I'm glad you've found a way to get some support and hope Mental Health Camp is a blast. Your point about the diagnosis itself being bad is a big one I think. This leads to discussions about how we relate to people. In the usual way of diagnosing people are seen through a screen of categories that reduces their individuality. Claude Steiner an early transactional analyst once said that, if anyone called a friend of his a schizophrenic that they'd have him to answer to! How do we organise the time, space, skills and caring so that people can be treated as individuals? I don't have a neat answer - but I'm pretty sure it doesn't involve the approach of the Cost Reduction Organisation (oops I mean Health Maintenancy Organisations). Evan’s last blog post..My StumbleUpon: a note to bloggers

By: Susan Reynolds

Susan Reynolds — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:15:51 +0000

All great points, Adrienne, and told with a very personal voice. The stigma of mental illness – and many other of the invisible illnesses for that matter – is real.

It’s pretty natural for people to be drawn to healthy, strong friends and family members. So although online folks may be supportive, what our neighbors or family members do is another thing. It’s people who we see more often who seem to feel they “risk” something in establishing or maintaining closer relationships with any of us who have disclosed a mental illness.

Sadly it’s often the case that they who move away, not forward, in times that we seem vulnerable. When I look at it from a distance, I understand why. Not only are we sometimes challenging to understand without some investment on the others’ part, but it’s also a fact that anything unknown is uncomfortable to people. There’s our double whammy.

Not fair; not fun; not how I wish life were, but with open dialogue like your article and the work many in the mental health community are doing I have hope for a difference in the future.

Susan Reynolds’s last blog post..Remembering the Light of Lisa Kelly

By: Michele Rosenthal

Michele Rosenthal — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:10:29 +0000

Recently, I've been part of an extensive conversation with some mental health colleagues about the stigma attached to the term 'mental illness'. To build on your post here, can we all together come up with a better term, one that would avert the stigma and begin to reposition diagnosis away from everything negative about 'mental illness' and more toward some language that would allow mental health to be just like any other diagnosis: a condition which needs to be managed and/or cured? Michele Rosenthal’s last blog post..PTSD Healing: Symptom Overview

By: Ian

Ian — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 17:24:10 +0000

Great post Adrienne, thanks for sharing your story! Ian’s last blog post..Notegrabs from last night