"Their "ignorance" is a convenient way of denying responsibility for unscrupulous acts."  How true.  It is almost embarrassing how ignorant as well as misinformed many people are concerning MI.  And even beyond embarrassing is the fact that many would just as soon stay ignorant and perpetuate the misinformation.

I know in my own family, not one member seems interested in learning about my own illness, schizophrenia.  If they have tried, I have seen no evidence of it.  They didn't understand why I kept trying to commit suicide and one said it was merely grandstanding to get attention, which is strange because I have never liked attention focused on me.  Never.  They didn't understand when I went from one job to the next trying to find a place where I fit in and where the stress was minimal.  Instead, one claimed she was bitter because I no longer have to work for an income.  I get SSDI and a disability pension from where I worked 12 yrs.  They didn't understand that I still had a striving for independence and tried more than once to live alone, and that even though neither time worked out, I would like to try it again.  They don't understand why I hate taking Zyprexa, even though I have doubled my weight (I mean, that one should be obvious, shouldn't it?) and sleep too much.  And lastly, now that I am taking care of our ailing mother (and they aren't) they think I am mooching off of her and not paying my share of things.  Wow!  I didn't know I was that angry about it, but it is the truth.

Carolyn

I have just discovered this website and I am glad! Without going into too much detail, I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 1991, age 21. Before that I was a civil engineer, a well paid and respectable job. I certainly never expected to end up in a psychiatric hospital,and before I was admitted I had visions of injections and straitjackets! Of course neither were true. I spoke to my psychiatrist daily for several hours until I was diagnosed and given the right medication.

      Before I was admitted I thought I was the only one with these thoughts, but fear was quickly replaced by relief. Mental illness of some sort is much more common than people realise. Seventeen years later, I live independently,near a loving family, and have never been in hospital since 1991.

      Of course,life will never be completely normal, but in the UK we are given free health care and have a benefit system for those who can not work full-time. There will always be ignorance in people who have never been near a psychiatric hospital,much in the same way that I have never seen a heroin addict inject themselves.It is simply a fear of the unknown. Mentally ill people are seen as stupid and dangerous by some. In fact, I have found most who end up in hospital to be the most intelligent and gentlest of people, who are there because at some point life became too much for them.

      In a strange way, mental illness has made me (and many reading this) a more understanding and compassionate person. I still have bad days. The trick is don't beat yourself up about it. And always give yourself something to look forward too, however small, such as watching your favourite film. Mental illness is not the end of the line. We may be perceived by some as not normal, but in this day and age,who is?