| Psychology and Mental Health Forum | |
https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Sunnyg/stigma_from_the_worst_place_among_psychologists_b-9195.html |
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| Author: | Sunnyg [ Mon Nov 02, 2015 4:53 pm ] |
| Blog Subject: | Stigma from the worst place - among psychologists |
It was Halloween night, and a few friends of mine convinced me to attend an annual house party in Brooklyn. Each floor of the building had a different theme. DJ, live music, a backyard for chatting. I stepped out to have a smoke, and found myself surrounded. Everything from a person dressed as a google drive, to a Goth character whose name was too cool for me to know of, to a woman in a white shirt with her sleeves tied behind her. I swallowed hard and hoped she wasn't what I thought she was trying to go for. "So what are you dressed as?" I asked. "Oh, I'm Frued's patient, you know, like a schizophrenic," She said with her broken English. She was not an American. "You mean like in the olden days, back when they didn't have medication," I replied. She laughed then added, "Actually, I'm a psych grad student," She said trying to assert her authority on the topic. But to be honest, her teachers had failed to show her the value of compassion, and the need to empathize and humanize the condition she wore on her sleeves. I was disgusted by her, her profession, and the value system she carried. I wish I had told her she should be ashamed of herself and taken a photo of her. She had no idea who she was talking with. She was talking with me, a person with schizophrenia who she was misrepresenting to the world. She thought she was safe with her stigma hanging with the "cool" kids. I was annoyed, and quit her company shortly after that. I didn't have the will that night to engage in the dialogue to fight the pervasive mindset that she assumed her stigma was ok. But I haven't been able to forget her bad costume. She should know better, she's studying to be a professional. I left the party shortly after that. My daughter was at her dad's, so I didn't need to rush home, but I was angry that this idiot thought it was ok to stigmatize mental illness with her terrible costume, just because she's taken a few classes and has authority on the subject. I think she totally lacks insight into living with mental illness, and clearly doesn't appreciate recovery. |
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