Notice the difference in the questions:

Is stigma accepted, in other words, an acceptable practice, by society?

Do you as a person with a mental health issue accept stigma upon yourself, in other words, do you feel bad about yourself in any way because of your condition?

For the longest time, I felt like my breakdown was both a grave failure of my character and morality, and the way it was received and reacted to was my punishment for that failure.

I no longer feel that way. I did absolutely nothing which resulted in any level of harm to another living person save for some inconvenience and concern. I came very close to harming myself. While suicide certainly can have serious collateral damage to those around the deceased, the act in itself is not harmful to others in a physical sense (hopefully), at least if not done in a respectful and cautious manner. (not talking about wild scenarios here, just a "typical" act done in private).

I think that the industry of mental health pushes the view that mental illness is a medical issue and not a character flaw or moral failure. I believe that to be true. I think we all deserve for that to be true, as well.

So, not that you asked, but this is what I think. I think that our society is stinking rotten with stigma about mental illness that is still accepted in a way that racism, sexism, and homophobia are no longer accepted. And, I think lip service is paid to doing a lot of things, from improving access to mental health services to anti-discrimination initiatives, but I don't see that it has done that much to really combat the problem.

I know everyone has their own feelings and approach, but I have hung out on this and other MH forums enough to know that many people are very cautions and reserved about who they share their situation with.

And I find that very sad. If MI is a health condition, why should anyone have to be ashamed of it? Are people ashamed of heart disease or diabetes? Should they be?

I find it incredulous in the 2nd decade of the 21st Century that people will MI can be still treated so poorly.

And honestly, I think that the MH community should look to the GLBT community for inspiration. They have moved acceptance so far in a few decades. I remember how horribly "shameful" the coming out episode of Ellen Degeneres' show was considered by so many people in 1997. Now things are so much more open and accepted. Not perfect, but so much better.

I think people with mental illness deserve better, too.

Did you "do anything wrong" to get yourself diagnosed? No? Then why accept being treated like you did?

I'm done with all of this. If people can't accept me for who and what I am, I don't need them in my life. If they want to make a fight out of it, so be it, I'm ready for that, too.