we’re broken in two from the day we are born, but you’ll not hear any more of this said

Tuesday, 10/04/16, 8:10am, 12:05pm, 1:25pm

I know I've gone off my soap box several times throughout the course of this blog about the stigma around mental illness and the effects that it has on people with it- here, here, and here for example. But until stigma around mental illness is gone from this world (something I don't expect to happen in my lifetime let alone my kids'), I will continue to talk about it, to bring it up and shine light to it.

I've posted this before, but I think it's worth re-visiting. When I googled "stigma", here's what came up:

stig·ma

ˈstiɡmə/

noun

1. 1.

   a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.

   "the stigma of mental disorder"

   synonyms:

   shame, disgrace, dishonor, ignominy, opprobrium, humiliation, (bad) reputation "the stigma of bankruptcy"

Note, the first example is "the stigma of mental disorder". That's because it is SO prevalent. You don't believe me? Read here and here. Why do I think that stigma is still present? Because people still treat mental illness different from physical illness. They assign a shame around mental illness, making the illness his/her fault.

I've stated some of the statistics before, but what does stigma look like?

Stigma is the wave of embarrassment when you talk about crazy Uncle Louie who suffers from biopolar disorder or cousin Steve's crazy ex wife who suffers from schizophrenia. Stigma is shifting your eyes away from the homeless person you see on the corner, mumbling to themselves. Self-stigma is the refusal to seek treatment when you suffer from a mental illness because you think you should be "strong enough" without it. Stigma is when Donald Trump can suggest that military service members who commit suicide do so because they "can't handle it".

Stigma is this internet meme (there's a part of me that doesn't even want to post it, to give it any notoriety).




Oh that meme makes me so angry (and trust me I know the benefits of the outdoors and I recognize that antidepressants are far from perfect), now I've gotta post the correction meme to this.



The thing is antidepressants can mean that difference between suicidal and not for many people, for some they may take the edge off, for others they might not help much and the side effects may make it not worth it. And then of course for some, they can cause suicidal thoughts, so I agree, when that happens, they're shit. But it isn't fair to discount all the good they do for so many people. And it isn't weak to take medication, it doesn't mean that someone "can't handle it"; it simply means that person has chosen to medically treat their brain. Just like you would with any other organ.

I hate the stigma, I hate my own self-stigma. It makes my depression that much more difficult to battle. I'm fighting that stigma, continually, and I will as long as I'm on this earth. I fight the stigma everytime I write openly about my struggles, I fight the stigma when I request or accept help from others, I fight the stigma when I raise my kids to believe a mental illness is an illness not a character flaw.