We do need a very different advocacy system. AIDS advocacy helped get HIV patients much more acceptance than they used to have. I personally think it should be modeled on the Gay Rights movement, they have done a superb job of advancing their cause and expanding their rights. They went from persecution to majority acceptance in about 30 years, which is great. And any day now, I think the US 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati is going to hand down a ruling about Michigan's gay marriage ban, and every sign is they will strike it down. If that happens, marriage equality will become law of the land not just in Michigan, but in all of the states in the 6th circuit. And once the genie is out of the bottle to this extent, now 30 states, there is NO WAY the Supreme Court is going to take it away again.

We need advocacy, acceptance, and understanding. There need to be a lot more "normal" people with mental illness, from the common such as ADHD or anxiety disorders to the severe like schizophrenia, who show they are integral parts of society, and "regular people" fighting a disease like any other.

The catch 22 is, no one wants to go first, because of fear of stigma. There are a few, but not many, brave enough. I'm not, I'm a real coward.