When i get confronted with this usual kind of idiocy from people who apparently 'work' in mental health services, i always smile politely and affirm that 'i'm crazy, not stupid.' Worth it alone for seeing their faces turn white.

I've just come out from only a week long stay at a therapeutic community (a kind of care home for those who yield very little from hospital stays). The staff were borderline abusive and i discovered that some of their better colleagues had left shortly after the last CQC inspection. So i had no way of knowing beforehand how bad things would really be. There was little to no structure, groups were practically non-existent and the residents were among some of the most skilled manipulators i've ever seen. The staff also allowed some poor elderly schizophrenic lady to sit outside my room most of the day and even spy me through my bedroom windows. I feel it was just another exercise in trauma that i could simply have gone without. Due to crappy lower level support back home, it appears as though that hard fought funding will just dissolve into thin air and before i know it, i'm back where i was at 15 years old.

SO, the point i'm trying to make is, other people can be so destructive and i hear what you're saying about them making you feel like it's better to avoid things. In some instances i personally see no other way. I'm sorry for your experiences.