Isolation due to stigma of mental illness

Thank you so much Ginger. It sounds familiar in several ways.
Hugs to you, and I hope you know the hopeful difference you make in people's lives, and for their mindset/s, with your contributions here.
Thank you.

This exactly what I am going through Maria and from not so different upbringing. I asked a therapist about the idea that maybe this while field is utter bullshit because it does not seek to account for how crappy life can be outside a Psychiatrist's office. And I back that idea up with the record sgattering rise in general depression seizing the world right now. I likened things to be being a hamster in a ball, in another ball, where the inner wall is child molestation and its legacy of ruining my life to potential learning disabilities I will never be able to afford to confirm. Meanwhile, I am also an evil white male with priviledge that somehow has landed me in the ER nearly a dozen times by my own hand. These experts ask us to rate our level in tolerability to exisiting and reduce our existence to a spectrum if 1 to 10, wherein the 1s end up dying and the 10s wish they had lied and said 1.

But you know what amiga, the thought of outliving them all with reason and making the moat of my own company seems to drive me more everyday this year. I take their meds, do their rando telehealth appointments with cold listeners whose faces I will never see who want me to excercise more because somehow that will make the people destroying all hope these days smarter, the same way a carbon tax pays the environment to stop wiping us out...

I guess my point is Maria, call me crazy, but few if any of us actually are. It is the world that is faceplamingly stupid and insane and unfortunately, it is isolating a lot of us, including me, which is why I wrote. I don't know who you are or where you are or why you are, but if this is something you wanna talk about at least in a surface level, I guess I'm here now 🙂 Take care

I believe the stigma slowly is falling away since I was diagnosed with bipolar 2 in 1996. I used to be ashamed and would never mention it to people. Now I tell anyone who will listen because I want to educate people and debunk myths around mood disorders. When high profile people like Senator Fetterman, Demi Lovato, Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga and so many others are forthright about their experiences, it helps reduce the stigma. 1 in 5 people has a mental illness with anxiety being the most prevalent. Given those odds, just about everyone in the world knows someone who struggles. Even the despicable Ted Cruz gets it because his daughter has mental health issues. He was one of the first to approach Fetterman and wish him well.

I am sorry that your parents were not attentive to your mental health issues and that the neglect you experienced makes you uneasy about exposing your issues to others. For me, my attitude shifted when I stopped saying I AM bipolar 2 and began saying I HAVE bipolar 2. We have illnesses. Just because they aren’t visible on an x-ray and diagnosable with a blood test does not negate the fact that OCD, anxiety, and mood disorders aren't legit illnesses. When I decided to own my illness and tell people about it, they were often surprised because I seem fine.

Last weekend, I told someone I know well. He disregarded it and said he didn’t believe in mental illnesses. I was a bit daunted until I started to educate him. As we talked, his eyes were opened and he viewed things differently. At the end of our discussion, he advised me not to tell people. I laughed and I said I would do no such thing because people like him need to know. I said you’re not ashamed of your type 2 diabetes, your high blood pressure or high cholesterol and asked why I should be ashamed of my mood disorder. He started to understand.

You have control over how you interact with the world. Self-isolation is a choice. You can choose to remain in your comfort zone which doesn’t seem to make you feel good about yourself or to engage with people in spite of your diagnoses. By doing the latter, you help to chip away at the stigma. It helped me a lot. I hold my head up high now. Experiment with it. Put your toe in the water. At first, you might feel discouraged, but if you keep at it, you may find incredible relief and connection with others. May the force be with you!

My heart aches for these posts as I have posted before I have a family member with severe OCD, Depression & Anxiety. They are one of the bravest people that I know. God is their strength to face each day and move forward. They have to fight daily to survive emotionally. Praying friends & family & church are their support. People are so quick to put down emotional issues. I don't understand it. Taking an antidepressant to function is no different than me taking something for acid reflux. The mind can get sick just like the body does. Praying for all that posted about this right now. There is hope! God Bless You!

I’ve been sick with bipolar disorder since I was six. No one had a clue what was wrong with me until I was 24 and I met a Psychiatrist that shared depression in common with me. I was lucky to see him for nine years and my life flourished. Since then it’s been more and more pills, he had never prescribed any.

My family understands nothing, even though they are cracked. The only time I have experience joy was the 20 years I lived away and had little to nothing to do with them. I found a woman who understood me and we married and had four children. I had psychotic episodes and she left me and took the kids. She was right to do so! It’s been ten years and I’m just now starting to get better.

I learned some very important lessons in the last ten years. Respect everyone, be kind to everyone especially people I don’t like and and seek to understand not to be understood (not mine originally) and lately don’t worry about what other people think of me they hardly think of me at all. Unless of course I would like to have dinner with her!

It is isolating to have mental illnesses, there is also less people to get on your nerves.

Seriously, be kind to yourself and know that you are loved.