JUDGEMENT AND STIGMA.

I normally write my blog with a positive focus or I will normally write about my loved one’s and the people whom inspire and empower me. This time I have a confession to make. Many of my readers will know that I have experienced mental health issues, but to date I have not confessed what my condition is.

I have schizophrenia. I don’t call myself a schizophrenic because I am a person with a condition, and reject labelling. I am well and highly functioning ninety nine percent of the time. Sometimes in life, when life throws me extremely stressful curve balls, I experience a relapse of my symptoms. This may happen every 5 to 10 years or so. As I say I manage to keep well and highly functioning the majority of the time in my life. I have the right sort of support from the professionals in my life, whom I know are the experts, my psychiatrist, my gp and my social worker. They are all on the ball and know what I am like when I become unwell. They all tell me I do exceptionally well.

Have I ever experienced judgement and stigma.? Yes of course I have, but never from true friends or those professionals supporting me. The stigma that I have learned to live with , comes from some family members. It can be more damaging and more persuasive given that it is my family. I only now feel strong enough to blog about this because one of my friends is currently experiencing mental health issues and is in hospital, which my family don’t believe, because she is a qualified doctor. Some of my family are voicing disbelief, because in their mind doctor’s can’t be mentally unwell. This friend and I have been supportive to one another over many years, and she is quite an amazing woman. She is highly functioning and great at multitasking, and yes, she has experienced a relapse of her mental health concerns. My family believe that only certain types of people have mental health issues, they can’t see or don’t want to see that it can happen to anyone, and their judgement and stigmatisation causes me emotional suffering and pain, and helps when I am stressed to become unwell again.

I am energised by my doctor friend becoming unwell to talk about judgement and stigma, because she too experiences it and still manages to be a good gp, good wife and mother and friend. She has experienced the same sort of stigma as me, and I would say she is a fellow survivor. I think both of us would like to stand up and speak out about what mental health issues really are, how they manifest and how to best live with them. I may never be able to change my family, but I can love and gratefully accept the support of both wonderful friends and professionals who light the way and make my journey easier, more interesting and fulfilling.

Now that I have confessed about my mental health condition, I will write ✍️ more about the interesting experiences and people whom have made my journey all the more interesting and will talk of what I have learned from the more challenging times.

I have a lot to be happy about and grateful for. Living with schizophrenia has taken my life down a very windy, overgrown path, that I would not have otherwise have experienced. The trick is not to let it define you…… there is so much more to life than a diagnosis.