Surviving The Everyday Stigma Of Mental Illness

Having a mental illness brings a world of new perspectives, life experiences, and a change in reality forever. How does one survive the everyday, when it feels at every turn you are hit over the head by a new challenge facing mental illness stigma? It is never easy to deal with a mental health issue and it is equally as difficult to manage with the everyday annoyances, put downs, negative media reports, and a world that is just plain stigmatized.

A Glance At A Bipolar Babe’s Life With Stigma

Upon being diagnosed, I was unaware that stigma even existed, but soon after I was released from the hospital, my utopian bubble burst. While in a deep state of psychosis, my actions were viewed as beyond strange, weird, and unforgivable. Weird and strange I can accept, but unforgivable? I did not do anything of the sort, except attempt to buy an engagement ring for my dreaded ex-boyfriend, hand out bibles transcribed in terms of current events, give away my jewelry to homeless people, and experience delusions and visions that brought me to speak and act oddly. I did not do anything that was meant to be hurtful, and frankly, during this time I was the most empathetic and caring person that I had ever been in my life.

Next came the defensiveness, eventually, everywhere I turned an image of a mentally ill criminal on the news emerged; words such as "crazy" and "nutty" dropped out of people’s mouths at every turn, and then the fear set in, “Will I ever fit in again? Will I ever be normal?” I began to despise the world, fearing that they would find out I was one of them, the crazy people, and they would hate me for it. I was so angry that I made a risky journey, and only two months after coming out of my second hospitalization and suicide attempt I headed to South Korea to teach English for two years. Little did I know that stigma was not only alive and thriving in Canada, but in some instances, even worse in my new home. I was assured by new friends that if my employer knew that I had bipolar disorder, I would be sent back on the next plane to Canada.

How Do You Survive Mental Health Stigma?

So, how do you survive the everyday, other than trying to put up with stigma and ignore it? Over the past 11 years, I have learned to cope, manage, and deal with mental health stigma effectively. It took a lot of time to learn how to navigate in a world that is greatly stigmatized and misinformed. Here are some tips on how to survive stigma and face it with ease:

• Let your guard down. There is nothing productive and effective about being defensive and judgmental of others and yourself. Accept that you are in this world, and no matter what, you have to find a way to be happy in it. If you are constantly looking for stigma, assessing it, and obsessing about it, then you will remain in a constant state of anguish and discomfort in your life.
• Say it like it is. I understand that many people do not feel comfortable disclosing their mental illness all the time and to everyone. I yell it from the rooftops, but that is something that works for me, and may or may not sit comfortably with you. Still, not everyone is out to judge, hurt, and make your life unmanageable. Use your discretion and test the waters by disclosing slowly, feeling your way to a place where you don’t feel ashamed anymore. There are people out there that genuinely want to be your friend, support you, and will understand that you simply have a mental illness.
• You have a mental health condition, so what? You are not your illness, and you may want to consider that you are not an entire entity of it. I find that when people identify with the claim that they are their mental illness, they often obsess and dwell on it and forget that they are amazing and remarkable human beings.
• Become an ambassador for mental health. Write about your experience, read books about mental illness that inspire you, use your creative talents, volunteer at a mental health organization, and/or speak up when people are coming from a place of ignorance or misinformation.

Be strong, level-headed, and remember that you have to be accepting of yourself, before anybody can offer you the same in return. Keep your head up, and remember that only you can stomp out the stigma that exists in your world. If you don’t do it, then nobody will do it for you.

You can also connect with Andrea on Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and at BipolarBabe.com.