I am so sorry you are lonely, Beth. I am, too. I reached out to a "friend" to tell him my phone was hacked and not to open anything from me and he texted back and asked me to dinner, which was quite sweet. I haven't been out to eat in a year. With this upcoming dinner, I will have seen a total of 2 friends in the past 12 months. Enough about me!!!!!

It's too bad that some of us can't meet in real life. We'd be among peers.

My point is not about me. My point is about us!! So many of us forced to live this way, abandoned and excommunicated for the crime of getting sick. It's shameful. Shameful. What if we did that to all the cardiac patients who smoked too much and didn't exercise? Or the diabetics who really struggle with weight issues? People would rightly be outraged.

"Excommunicated" - an apt word, to be sure. Nobody's bringing us casseroles with loving advice to take good care of ourselves. It adds to the feeling of being an oddball, and of course, to isolating.

Some day, smart people will look back on all this and be ashamed of what we did to all of us. Really wish we all could be there for that.

Won't they, though! Yes, I wish we could be around for that revelation. I've encountered many (most?) doctors who behave as though those of us with mental illness make a choice to be this way. It's appalling.