Normal people just are not normal if you get what I mean.

Stigma is not the sign of a healthy person.

They also can kiss my a..

My life goes on without them!

heretic -- I agree with everything you have said. Being mentally ill sucks.

Go ahead on with your bad self... you are so correct!!

It is true. I have had social problems since I can remember. Noone questioned it when I was in school, why not? They just treated me like I was a bad kid. I worked in a Mental Health Hospital b4 and when a there was a patient who had Bipolar, everyone made faces and said"That is the worst kind. or I hate working with those people." And here I sat, right beside them, diagnosed with such a hated illness....

Yea-As of late, I've been doing really well. I have climbed out of a long postpartum depression. Well, I've got about 4 or 5 DSM-IV designations....so.....Today, some idiotic security guard was staring at me like he was "studying" me. My coworker and I are independent workers who started out at a rehab program for the mentally ill.

Well, I have grown used to stigma and idiots. Before DailyStrength, I was on Icarus Project. It took a year with THOSE people to accept my madness and embrace all my diagnoses. I have and although life is not perfect, I am happy.

I totally agree with you heretic, it sucks being mentally ill!

I can relate to all of you. I'm so frustrated with life in general. I'm tempted lately, to "come out" about having bipolar disorder, but I don't think it would make a damn bit of difference.
You know, maybe I should just live in my newfound reputation of being weird, annoying, crabby, etc. That's what my so-called "friends" have been saying about me....but what if they knew I had bipolar? Would they be sympathetic or would they just assume it's a ploy for attention?
It's a gamble that I'm not willing to take at this point. I'm pretty much in a mindframe right now that I hate almost everything. I'm so glad my doc gave me some adavan...now I just come home, pop a pill and fade away after my homework is done and my daughter is in bed.

Hi Heretic
I relate to what you wrote physical illness vs mental illness.
I feel most comfortable with others who are mentally illl Bipolar but not necessarily. I work as a mental health advocate in a psychosocial rehab center.
Here's a terrible poem I wrote expressing my views. Both physical illness and mental illness can cause so much misery and pain.
Yet the physical is treated with sympathy and understanding
While the mental is viewed with derision and disdain
mugwort

You are so right heretic. I hate mental illness, I hate my brain. I hate discrimination and stigma.