Stigma-buster thread

[Droopy]

Some people think that the mentally ill are mindless, drooling zombies or people that are dangerous and should be feared or people that are just weak minded. In all of my dealings with the mentally ill, I've never met a zombie and I've never felt the need to be afraid of someone who is mentally ill. As far as that weak minded stuff goes, nothing could be farther from the truth. Mental illness is caused by an abnormality in the brain. It's been shown that people with mental illnesses have abnormal brain chemistry and in one case, schizophrenia, that people may actually have an abnormally shaped brain. There is a movement amongst the mentally ill to get mental illness to be described as a physical illness because that more acurately describes what is going on. So you may hear terms like bipolar disease, schizophrenic disease and such when reading about mental illness.

Most people who are mentally ill live in and contribute to society just like everyone else even if some might be on disability. Chances are that you will know or meet people who have a mental illness several times in your life.


Hello my name is Droopy and I have schizoaffective disorder, a combination of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. I've got a good job as a truck driver. I own my own place. It's a two bedroom bungalow in the suburbs. I own a pick up truck that's getting a little rusty, but it's paid off. I like fishing, reading, writing and traveling. I'm the quiet type, but if you should strike up a conversation with me you'd probably find me warm and friendly.

[Catchawave]

1. (((hugs)))

Are you on medication? The only reason I ask, you sound too "normal" to me <wink>.

Usually people on meds are thinking they're living in a perfect world, or react perfectly to the world's imperfections. I choose to remain drug free, because I really don't trust the DrugCo's.

[Droopy]

2. I take meds

There's no way I could be able to express myself the way I do if I were not taking meds and I was experiencing my symptoms.

Medication as literally saved my life. It has made me see the world for what it really is, not given me some utopian world view. I'm upset about the Kerry defeat; I think Iraq is a mess; I fear Bush is going to stack the Supreme Court with conservatives; and I think Bush's policies in general are going to be bad for America, if not immediately then in the near future.

If medication is working properly and you have the right diagnosis then you should feel like your normal self while on them. Ideally, medication should restore you to what you were before you got ill. That's what it's done for me. But it took many years to get to that point. I was originally misdiagnosed with depression and prescribed an anti-depressant. That didn't do anything for my psychosis. I don't know how the doctor missed that I was psychotic, but he did. Then after a stay in the hospital I was misdiagnosed as bipolar. This time they caught the psychosis, but they thought it was due to mania. Finally after another stay in the hospiatal I got the right diagnosis.

I now feel like I did when I was about 19, before I got ill. In my experience, people on meds either feel the way I do, or feel different but not well, or are distressed about side affects. As far as living in a perfect world goes, the only person I know who feels that way pops about 4 Xanax and smokes a couple of bowls of pot to get to feeling that way.

[Gryffindor_Bookworm]

3. GREAT post.

I'm bipolar. I'm not crazy, and I don't fuck everything in sight when I get manic. I am moody and artistic, but not suicidal. I am just me.

My name is Gryffindor Bookworm and I have a cat, a nice apartment, five brothers, and two jobs (I'm saving up a down payment on a house). My Mercury Tracer is paid for. I love to read and I love Harry Potter and I love my family and friends.

[Chimpanzee]

5. If you ever get to the point

where you start fucking anything in site, please let me know. :evilgrin:

[Chimpanzee]

4. Everyone is 'mentally ill'

It's just a matter of degree. Nobody get through this life unscathed. Some of the people that think they are 'normal' and scoff at people with chemical imbalances are pretty whacked too.

[Droopy]

7. Well there's 'mentally ill' and then there's mentally ill

I understand what you are saying, though. Most people go through rough times in their lives and it is very common for people to have an episode of depression here and there. Of course there is no perfect person, even though I think many people like to think there is, and nobody really is the model of normality. We all have our little eccentricities. But what I'm talking about here is stuff that lands people in the psychiatrist's office or in the hospital. It's those people who often get a bad reputation and get discriminated against. My own father acts like he's afraid of me. Whenever I am around him he's constantly asking how I'm feeling and if I'm ok like at any minute I could flip out on him. We have very little in the way of meaningful conversation.

And I agree with you that people who scoff at the mentally ill or mock them have a serious problem, too. They are ignorant in the case of the former and conscienceless in the case of the latter.

[Chimpanzee]

9. I understand completely what you're saying, but

all I'm saying is there are plenty of 'seemingly normal' people out there that aren't admitted to hospitals (a bad example would be Jeffrey Dahmer) that have mental illness. Maybe if some of those people would admit they had problems and seek help we would all be better off. BTW, my 14 yr old son has Aspergers and my ex-wife is bipolar, so I'm not talking through my hat. My son inherited his Aspergers from me (apparently). So far, my 12 yr old daughter shows no signs, but has a strong possibility of inheriting bipolar. My ex-wife's mother was bipolar and ultimately died due to experimentation with high doses of lithium in early days of research. She had a massive heart attack.

[Droopy]

11. Sorry to hear about your mother-in-law

And I hope your son is doing well. May your daughter never experience bipolar disease. She's not out of the woods, yet, but it's a good sign that she's not showing any symptoms. I hope your ex is doing well. Bipolar can be a debilitating disease and I've met some people who are on disability because of it.

Speaking of lithium, I take it and it works very well for me. But I understand that it doesn't for some people. There are several alternatives to lithium now and there are different treatments for bipolar besides mood stabilizers. If your daughter ever develops the disease then there is a very good chance that she can lead a healthy life because of the advancements in treatment.

[Chimpanzee]

12. My ex-wife does great on the lithium-carbonate

She rarely gets even mildy manic, and her lows are just normal everyday blahs. It's a good 'cure' for her. I remember before she got put on lithium and she would take several barbituate tablets so she could sleep. I would wake up at 3 in the morning and she would be wide awake, staring at the ceiling. She had consumed enough downers to kill a horse, but it didn't even faze her!

[Droopy]

13. Yep, that's typical of mania

I experienced mania as a part of my illness and I used to drink a lot to try to deal with the symptoms. I could drink a twelve pack of beer and still be up all night.

Mania can be a wonderful, creative time for some people. They don't need much sleep, they can get a lot more accomplished, and they can become very creative. Some artists who are afflicted with the illness have done some of their best work when they are manic. It can be hard to let that go. People with bipolar have been known to miss their manic episodes once they get treatment.

I'm not saying that mania is a good thing. It has been known to seriously affect one's judgement and some people become delusional or psychotic when manic.

[jdots]

6. Droopy you aren't mentally ill

you realize that thin line,the people who don't and think they are sane/normal/average are very full of thier own shit plus they are afraid of the thing that makes them human=thier imagination.
We live in a world now that is anti imagination and people are freaking out because it grows stagnent because what they put down is what they should use,thier hearts &souls and dreams.

[Droopy]

8. I agree that we need more imagination

One case in point where we could have used it is Iraq. Maybe if we would have been more imaginative we could have found a way to secure our interests in the region without resorting to violence.

Mother nature blessed me with a vivid imagination. It got me into some trouble when I was experiencing my symptoms. When you have a schizophrenic disease what you imagine often becomes reality to you. If you imagine that people can see through your eyes and read your mind, then that becomes real to you. If you've ever seen "A Beautiful Mind" there is a good example of what imagination and schizophrenia can do to a person in that film. I highly recommend seeing that film if you want to get a taste of what it's like to be schizophrenic.

[Chimpanzee]

10. That was a great movie

I loved how the director actually created the same delusion in the mind of the audience, where for most of the film, you weren't sure what was real or not, too.