Society is super frustrating and complicated especially for people like me who have a disability (autism) and have a immense and immeasurable amount of passion and determination for guiding, educating and inspiring people with disabilities!!
I feel like I am in a gigantic maze every route I have chosen leads me to a dead end! All I want, all I care about is making a difference in people with disabilities lives!!!
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#mental illness #mental health #inspiration #hope #autism #submission #stigmaThere has always been a stigma around mental health; I see news reports that if the person who committed a crime had a mental illness, they automatically blame the person’s mental illness for what happened. This NOT always the case and most likely wouldn’t be if we had proper mental health care for everyone that needed it.
I was diagnosed with bipolar and depression seven years ago, and see my psychiatrist and counselor regularly. I hold a full-time job, internship, and am pursuing my master’s in communication and digital media. In no way does having bipolar and depression slow me down in life to the point that I can’t achieve my goals. Featuring people that have mental illness and are doing well in life seem to never be shown in ads or on television. I would love to change this because I am someone who takes medication regularly, and successfully lives a normal life!
I just want to put it out there that if you have a mental illness, you too can live a fulfilling life, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!
Mental health is a big deal here in Wichita Falls, TX. We have a state mental hospital and a host of various private practices, yet stigma is almost immediate. Being a functional person with mental illness causes so many to be skeptical of this disability because it can’t be seen. Everyone who suffers with disability be it that which is physically disabling , mentally disabling or both knows all to well the stigma. If we try and stand up for ourselves we are stigmatized even further as “bitter”, “angry”, “lazy”, “ungrateful”, and “entitled” because those who label us these things “pay taxes” so we can survive. We want to do more than merely survive. We want to thrive. We want to succeed. Greg Abbott is governor and he is disabled physically. Many innovators in many different fields and industries who pioneered if not fathered what we now benefit from and enjoy now in this post-modern era, often overcame the setbacks mental illness presented them. They moved with it instead of allowing all that mental illness has with it hold the back. They refused to first- stigmatize themselves. They rejected the stigmas others placed upon them. It was not uncommon that a parent or other influential person in their lives saw in them what others saw as ever incapable and always less than.
Mental Health Awareness…. end the stigma…This is for my mother. .Jean…this is our story… My mother suffered her whole life with mental illness…I watched her ups and downs from as far back as i can remember..she was brilliant and artsy creative productive and efficient took care of everything perfectly.. we moved 10 times in 13 years because my dad wanted to keep her happy and she would decorate and remodel the houses painting wall papering and taking care of me and my sisters…. and then she would start to change and become crazed over whelmed and aggitated unable to finish all of the projects or keep up and get angry easily and scream and yell and break things and come after me verbally or with a belt and be out of control then she would slow down and crumble and crash into a deep tearful depression unable to get out of bed and take care of us kids and our home and basic necessities many times leading to hospitalization on the psyciatric ward…I remember visiting her many times in different wards ..i didn’t understand it when I was young why my mommy was like this…why she loved me and hated me…was angry and sad….
I refuse to stay silent about mental health and how it affects me. I was paralyzed by the stigma all of my life I started speaking out and talking my depression/anxiety openly online. Through my writing I have been able to reach so many people. I remember when I first started sharing, I heard “You are not alone” and it was such a powerful statement because I had felt so alone all my life, I felt ostracized and made to feel that my mental illness made me inferior to others. “You are not alone” soon became my motto. When I share my struggles and my story, not only do I get the support and love I need but someone else is helped as well by reading my words, it’s a powerful feeling to go from feeling stigmatized, mocked, alone and helpless to finally being a voice for others and getting support back as a result, it’s a responsibility that I don’t take lightly.
Hi. I’m 27 years old and live In A small town called Eldorado Illinois where the stigma against mental health is very prominent and the Egyptian mental health department in my hometown has no advocacy opportunities for adults over age 19 whatsoever. They have small groups and individual counseling for adults there, but no advocacy opportunities whatsoever. So I felt this was the only opportunity I had left to insure others with my story. My story begins before I was even born. My birth mother aka egg donor took birth control pills and drank heavily while pregnant with me. Its a miracle I was even born alive let alone that I wasn’t born a complete vegetable or severely disabled.
TO ANYONE WITH ANY MENTAL ILLNESS OF ANY AGE:
(you don’t have to be in middle school)
Middle School’s known to be some of the hardest years of our lives, between hormones and homework it’s tough enough to make it through without mental health and the stigma it so often carries. As it’s impossible to make it through a class without someone making a joke about a mental illness either a friend of mine or I have, I’ve come to a certain conclusion. Teenagers will be teenagers, it shouldn’t be that way, it shouldn’t be an excuse to kidding about things that people truly struggle with on a daily basis, but it is. Sometimes things in life are just stupid, but we can’t let that get to us.
I’m a 13 (almost 14) year old in the ignorant year of 8th grade, towards the end of last year a few things in life went really, really wrong, and it resulted in a series of unfortunate events (no pun intended). Basically, by the time 8th grade started, I had not only experienced my fair share of panic attacks, gone to a therapist several times, but I had also been diagnosed with depression and an anxiety disorder. I had basically hidden from my entire grade during the summer, so as school started up again and I was struck by a mass of indirect insults towards my mental illnesses, let’s just say there was a lot of tears at the beginning of the year.
I became a Christian when I was 11 years old in the Methodist Church I grew up in. At the age of 24 after the birth of my second child, I developed severe postpartum depression. At the time, there was little or no understanding of this condition called depression by the Christian community or even by Mental Health practitioners. I was often told by, I hope, we’ll meaning but often uneducated friends and family to study my Bible and Pray more to cure myself. Even worse I was blamed my acquaintances, friends, and family for my illness and my failure to make it go away. Why didn’t I just get over it, pull myself up by my bootstraps, grow up, and stop feeling sorry for myself! People often avoided me because they didn’t want to acknowledge that mental illness is real or out of their own fears and ignorance.
Applying this type of stigma does not help a person who is struggling with depression or other mental illnesses. It does not hep anyone! Unfortunately Christians often want to blame Demons or Evil for a person being mentally ill. I frequently got calls from other church members who were struggling with depression because they felt safe talking to me because I would not condemn them for their problems as other friends and family members often did.
My name is Brittany, and my mental health story is quite the roller coaster, but I am deeply hoping that someone somewhere will read this and find hope in it.
I’m not sure I could tell you exactly when I knew I had a mental illness, everything for me started at such a young age. I knew something was wrong, I just didn’t know it was out of the ordinary. I was raised in a cult or a sect called branhamism. It took me a long time to utter those words, I was always taught that it was just church. I thought that this was what church meant. I won’t delve too deeply but to paint a clear picture it was a church that believed women should wear ankle long skirts, shouldn’t cut their hair, and should live at home and serve their husbands. There was no worldy music allowed, no makeup, tattoos or peircings, no nail polish, no birth control, the list goes on and on. The church greatly preached the end times over and over, drilling it into your head three times a week. I was raised in this church, this was all I knew.
So, from a very young age I began to develop severe anxiety. The first panic attack I can remember was when I was about 5 years old, possibly 4. I over heard my mother in the kitchen speaking with my older sister. I cannot remember the exact conversation except the words of my mother that still ring clearly in my ears. She said to my sister, ‘Brianna, in order to make something right that you have done wrong, you have to tell the person you have done wrong against.’ This may seem like simple advice, but to a five year old, it was the most terrifying information in the world. I immediately went to my room to think things out. Now, there was no one I had truly done wrong against at 5 years old but things seem a little different when you’re that young and don’t truly know right from wrong yet. My wrongs were not the wrongs of others. This is because my entire perception is skewed, but we will get to that soon. My wrongs looked more like bad thoughts. For instance, sometimes I would wonder if Jesus had private parts (which sounds very silly now but at 5 this seemed like a valid thought). However, because my church was very against sex as a whole (it was taught as a necessary evil once you were married) anything in relation to it sent me into a terrible panic. I would stay up all night, panting, crying, cold sweats, just staring at the ceiling for hours in absolute fear at 5 years old.
Hello. We all can live a great, purposeful life managing Bipolar Condition or any mental health situations.
The social stigma of mental illness used to bother me to no end…and contribute to my problems! I’m over that now, but I prefer to call it Bipolar Condition vs. “Disorder”. I also prefer to discuss Mental Health vs. “Illness”.
My story in general:
Statistics state that 1 in 5 people struggle with mental illness but I’m wondering how many people with mental illness but don’t feel safe and comfortable sharing. The term mental illness carries a stigma that most are ashamed or afraid to carry. I have generalized anxiety disorder along with panick attack disorder but that does not mean that I am my “mental illness” just as someone with high blood pressure isn’t labeled as such. Everyone has struggles and issues and should be able to express themselves and seek out the positive in life! I am optimistic about life and know that the options are endless.. the more I share and open up the lighter I feel. I am not alone. You are not alone. I will continue to be open and transparent and Use my anxiety to fuel the fire and view my shortcomings as a strengths that Are continually shaping who I am and giving me goals for who I want to be.