My mother was paranoid schizophrenic i was born scared of her and to this day i never let her touch me....Its freaks me out...But other than her voice triggering me...no,other mentally ill people don't really...

Maybe i'm a lil scared of them if they are too close to me on a strett or something...but its not a trigger.

I'm truly sorry to say sir, forgetting about your childhood is probably damn near impossible. The "triggers" will always be there, waiting to raise their ugly heads. The essence here is to heal the hurts from the pass, through counselling, therapy, what ever works. With that you'll then have some practical ways that work in dealing with those triggers when they present themselves. With myself, the triggers in the past would tear me apart, with a lot of hard work,( and i'm sorry I wish there was an easy way) those same triggers today merely, "bother me", no longer sinking there vicious talons into my very soul. Hope this helps, all the best!!

Am astounded and appalled at your stereotyping of all mentally ill using such derogatory wording.

Beaumont, no. And I'm sorry you had to grow up with what you did. I had this mother, this rock, mother earth...everyone at our house because she was the best. Friends, mine and brothers' talking to her about things they couldn't talk to their own parents about, etc.

My neighbor was raised with a schizophrenic mother and an alcoholic father. She has self love issues, but she got certified to work with "families" of at risk kids. Healing the past, I think.

I'm not saying to do this. This was her way.

I wish you well. There has to be some desensitization at some point, maybe? But I don't know.

I know that if my mother had not had the courage to leave my psychopathic father, I'd probably be in the booby hatch. That you're here, that you move forward, that you attempt to get over it, I commend you.

My father is a bipolar who refused treatment but acted out violently in our family. He was also a religious fanatic who rose to a place of power in a fringe church group until even they threw him out.

So I have issues with mentally ill people, too. Yet I didn't want to be prejudiced against a whole group of people who couldn't help it, even if I had good reason to be from my background. For me, the best therapy was to face it head on. When I grew up and became the benign kind of religious person, a hospital chaplain, I had to attend equally to those who came to my hospital's ER whether due to mental illness, physical illness, or--often--a combination of the two. This was in the big city of Chicago, so it wasn't just occasional.

It helped me, both in being compassionate and also asserting my right to boundaries. In my family, my father's mood swings would make him run roughshod all over anybody's boundaries, which is why even his fringe church finally kicked him out. By being kind but firm in my hospital work with the mentally ill, I found what I lacked as a kid and felt safe for the first time in my life. And I made things safe for those poor souls, too. It was a win-win situation on both sides.

I will be looking for a job soon, and I want to work in a place where my co-workers and the section of the public we serve are not severely mentally ill or if they have mental illnesses, they are receiving treatment to keep it under control. It will be a challenge for me, however, because in order to find work, I will be starting by obtaining help in my job search from agencies set up to serve the mentally ill (I have PTSD, depression, and anxiety) and people with a criminal record (I have no criminal record myself). I will succeed because I have no choice - and I really want to work so that I can be independent and self-reliant.

I have learned from experience that when mentally ill people begin acting out their mental illness, they often become violent within seconds, assaulting people like me for no reason and doing serious property damage. I have been physically attacked for no reason whatsoever by mentally ill people in public places. That is part of the reason we have psychiatric hospitals and institutions - so that those mentally ill people who are a danger to themselves or others, can be placed somewhere where people have the means to subdue the likely violent ones before their episodes escalate into violence. Unfortunately, due to the whims of politicians who control the taxpayer financing of these institutions, they are often released back into society whenever there is a budget cutback, and once released, they often stop taking their medications and stop their group and individual therapy that kept them connected with reality.

I know, some people will hate me for saying the truth here, but I am going to say it anyway. There is more than one side to the issue of mental illness. Reality is reality.

No, I think people haven't hated you here for what you said, but have come up along side you. I, for one, was severely hurt by a violent parent in fits of psychosis for years. Others here have posted similar experiences here. And we each choose our own treatment. EMDR is very effective and is different from the exposure therapy I chose. I chose that because part of my agenda was not to let my crazy dad define how I was going to fear the world for the rest of my future.

And remember, where I chose to work as a hospital chaplain as an extension of my success with exposure therapy is a SAFE place in which to encounter the mentally ill, unlike the streets and elsewhere.

So as you choose where to work, all the best to you, and feel free to choose as you please. It's been my experience that the great majority of people here don't judge but share experiences instead. So just be your best self.

I was unemployed in 2011 as an older worker, so I know how hard it is to find a job in this economy, and I'm really glad I have one. All the best of luck to you in hunting for a job!

Well, at the risk of being forced to join you in the stocks...

I know where you are coming from. Can't help it any more than I can help being triggered by light metaphors or the smell of stale beer.

As with all my triggers, I heal greatly from challenging their unreasonable grip on me and learning how to manage their grip on me.

Yeah you for recognizing your plight. May you find a healing touch to help you get a handle on it. Some of us nut jobs are worth knowing. All of us are worthy of compassion.

I dont think anyone is going to hate you for experiencing what you've experienced. If anything, the phrasing will be what gets under people's skin.

"Mental illness" as a term covers a very broad spectrum of problems, including PTSD, depression, anxiety. I know a lot of people have trouble coming to peace with that term, so lumping everyone with mental illness into one group and talking about them as nothing but violent, out of control maniacs is going to trigger people here.

We can appreciate your struggle and of course want to support you, but maybe that's something to think about in the future when you are putting together how you want to word things. I would hate to see an argument explode over terminology in a place that is supposed to be safe for everyone.

i don't dislike you, but it bums me out that you dislike me so thoroughly, even though you don't know me.

yes, i am mentally ill.

Thanks for all of your input. I was looking for understanding, but I think few of you do understand what it's like to be in my shoes, other than Unomas. Once again, I'm on a lonely road in the black of night with nowhere to go, and by the way, I'm on foot and extremely vulnerable, not in a comfortable car seat surrounded by 2,000 pounds of steel to protect me and keep me safe like the rest of you. Life is about being all alone and hated and then you die in the end anyway.

I'm leaving this community now.

Its too bad i think you were a little misunderstood......I share the paranoid schizophrenic mother but not the trigger about her schizphrenia.....only from her though yeah.Her voice alone makes me want to kill either myself or someone else (although i wuldn't.

You just satated what triggers you.
Very femenine thigs and personalities trigger me.Because my mother was like that besides her schizophrenia...

I do not find your post offensive....we're just talking about what triggers us.

We don't always agree here so you should give a try and stay.You'll find those with whom you connect and those you don't....

Beaumont,
I don't think that anyone is meaning to question or belittle what you've been through. My mom is mentally ill & went off meds when she got pregnant with me & never went back on them. She was by no means a good mom, but she was never really violent.

I think maybe some here might be hurt by statements like the one you wrote about when mentally ill people experience symptoms they usually become violent. Too many of us have faced this exact stigma with our illness. We are isolated or experience prejudice that keeps us from living a fuller life because people misunderstand mental illness & make assumptions at one extreme or the other - she is just weak-willed & mental illness is an excuse to be lazy OR she is a danger to our company and we need to start pushing her to resign (even with absolutely NO evidence of that whatsoever).

Certainly there are people, especially those who are homeless or on the streets, who may act out violently against others - often with little or no provocation. But there are millions of other Americans who silently suffer with our symptoms & often people other than our therapist don't even know.

There is no excuse for people not getting the help they need to be productive members of society (though, admittedly, it's not always the patient's fault for not getting treatment with the way the system works these days). Just know that the violent, unsanitary or uncivilized behaviors in some mentally ill persons is a VERY small portion of the total number of persons with mental illness. Many of us are doctors, lawyers, teachers, businesspeople, government workers, therapists & other professionals who are largely successfully integrated into society - and we battle our own demons at home, with the support of family/friends, or in the doctor/therapists' office.

But that said, I genuinely do want to be supportive of you. One thing I'm wondering if you've considered is a personal safety course. Many cities offer these courses for free through the county sheriff's office. You learn things like how to make yourself look more imposing (& therefore a less desirable target for criminals), how to call attention to yourself when you perceive danger, and how to fight back, should the need arise. You learn to better predict behaviors of criminals or the mentally ill on the streets so you can avoid potentially dangerous situations. I know I greatly benefited from taking such a course. I lived & worked for many years in inner-city Chicago and never had a problem with someone on the street even though I worked 2nd shift & got off work at midnight and then had to walk & take public transit to get home.

I actively used the techniques I'd learned from the sheriff's police & am confident they helped. That doesn't mean that a whole population of people has been erased from my noticing, just that I've been able to keep myself safe. Yes, some street people do smell, shout out claims of people following them/harming them/harassing them, but I've found that many of them are basically decent people who are quickly disarmed by a genuine smile & greeting.

You will have to find out what works for you. But I guess I do want to challenge you in the same way I've been challenged about what triggers me: Those were horrible people in your past. You were a child & at their mercy. You couldn't keep yourself safe very well. And it shouldn't have been that way. But now you are here. You are grown. You are strong. You know better how to protect yourself. And just because someone shares some common traits with your abusers, that doesn't mean they will try to abuse you. There IS more than one side to mental illness & the vast majority of people are like those of us here who, no matter how much we struggle with our illness, do not mutter to ourselves, make violent threats, urinate in public or exhibit disturbing behavior. And even among that very small population, few if any actually desire to harm you - even on their very sickest days.

But I get that it is a LONG road to recovery. So try to just take it one day at a time & know that we are here to support you along the way. :)

PTSD is a type of mental illness. I have never taken a dump on anyone's sidewalk, nor have a become aggressive or violent. Have you?

Some human beings give humanity a bad name, but there is no need to pander for support using negative stereotypes about ANY group on our planet, even if we ourselves are a member of that group..

Everyone here gets triggered here - this is the PTSD group.