Dealing with Stigma
Being given a mental health diagnosis confers a lot of stigma in the eyes of many people. In the eyes of many a mental health diagnosis reduces you to nothing more than that diagnosis. It reduces who you are as a human being. You don’t have bipolar. You are bipolar. There is a big difference between the two views.
When people try to label you as nothing more than anything it means in their eyes much about you is unimportant. There are people who believe that people with a mental illness cannot have a close relationship with God. There are people who believe that people with mental illness cannot have decent relationships with other people. There are people who believe that people with mental illness can never have goals or aspirations that mean anything. There are people who believe that people with mental illness can never accomplish anything of value in their life. There are people who believe that people with mental illness are deficient in character and can always be counted on to do bad things. There are people who believe that people with mental illness are unpredictable and dangerous and the only safe place for them to be is away from them. All this is clearly false. Yet for many it is their reality of mental illness. The biggest tragedy is when those with a mental illness after being placed in environments that saturate them with these messages finally come to also believe they are true. When you endorse the stigma that others try to attach to you finally you will give up on all hope. The story of your life will be, “I’m crazy….nothing but crazy….and will never be anything else but crazy.”
How do you fight it?
Educate yourself. Never let yourself be reduced to your disorder or your symptoms.
Educate others. Help others to learn that mental illness does not equal less than human. Help to point out the fallacy of their stereotypes.
Pick your battles, but learn to stand up for yourself. Don’t fight just to fight, but when there is reason to fight and something to be gained be resolute in your efforts.
Some people will remain ignorant regardless of what you do. Try to never put yourself in the position where their ignorance dictates your life.
How have you dealt with the experience of stigma in your life? We would like to print your experiences for all to see. It can be letters to the editors that you have written, descriptions of experiences or situations that you have dealt with. It can be anything. Please let us know.
The following letters are copies of letters to the editor that I wrote. The first is a letter to the Knoxville News Sentinel about a story they had printed about a man whose life had been destroyed by his bipolar disorder. The second was printed in the Maryville Daily Times and has to do with the popular fascination with Brittany Spears.
Mental illness should not be stigmatized
This letter is in regard to the story on April 6 about the terrible tragedy that Greg Wolf and his family has endured ("Who's going to speak up for these people?")
Mental illness left untreated ravages and destroys, not only the life of those afflicted but all too frequently that of their family and loved ones.
The comments of a couple of readers who responded online that somehow this story was an attempt to excuse irresponsible behavior were so ludicrous as to be laughable, if the story wasn't so sad.
Too often those with a mental illness find themselves doubly victimized, first by the illness itself and then by those around them who attach tremendous stigma to their brain disorder and tell them that their behavior is somehow a character failure or the result of them not trying hard enough.
The Wolf family was incredibly brave to openly talk about their story, and they certainly deserved a better response.
The story discussed Wolf being diagnosed as bipolar. There are 5 million people in this country who are also bipolar. The odds are that, if you are not bipolar, you know someone who is.
People who are bipolar often go eight to 10 years before they are correctly diagnosed. Twenty-five to 50 percent of them make at least one suicide attempt in their life.
A large number have significant problems trying to self medicate their illness with alcohol or drugs.
The people quoted in the story are correct: Jails have become mental health treatment centers. And they don't do it well.
These people don't fall through the cracks. They live in them.
The Wolf family members are incredibly brave people who have coped with a nightmare that could affect any family or any person reading this letter. Mental illness is an equal opportunity employer.
Larry Drain
Hopeworks
Blount County chapter of
The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance
Editor:
The latest edition of People magazine says that the cause of Brittany Spears problems is that she has bipolar disorder and is unwilling to accept that or seek treatment for it. The unraveling of her life has become a national industry. She supports a whole host of people whose sole purpose seems to be to tell other people what crazy thing she has done now. She is living proof that emotional illness is an equal opportunity employer. About 5.7 million Americans have bipolar disorder.
Without appropriate diagnosis, effective treatment and support it leaves the lives of those afflicted in ruins. Devastation is piled upon devastation in a neverending assault. You may never know Brittany Spears (or probably want to), but there is a good possiblity you may know somebody with bipolar disorder.
Symptoms of mania include: increased energy, excessively euphoric mood, irritability, racing thoughts, feeling like you can do anything, and the excessive pursuit of pleasure without thought of consequence. Symptoms of depression include: decreased energy, loss of interests in activities once enjoyed, changes in appetite, inability to concentrate and feelings of worthlessness. Many people with bipolar disorder use alcohol or drugs to medicate their condition.
People with bipolar disorder do however have the ability to lead happy and productive lives when they do the things necessary to manage their disease. Bipolar disorder doesn't have to get in the way of family, relationships, jobs and a chance at happiness.
There is a lot of stigma attached to this disorder. Many people with it feel isolated and ashamed and afraid to let others know what they struggle with on a daily basis. "Hopeworks", the Blount county chapter of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance was recently formed in Maryville. The next meeting is Tuesday February 12 at 7pm at Blount Christian Church. Our hope is that we can provide a resource to help people manage their lives successfully and be a force towards lessening the stigma associated with this horrible problem.
If we can help, or if you would just like to get information please contact us. You can call 951-4252 or 9814291 or at hopeworks@live.com.
May God bless,
Larry and Linda Drain