[dshantel]

How are we to expect the world to stop stigmatizing us if we don't stop ourselves. I make it a point in my life to not stigmatize people because I know how it makes me feel. I go to group therapy every Thursday. I think its called CBT. The group is called anxiety and depression so everyone deals with some form or mental illness. Yesterday someone was talking about their sister and made the statement that they can't handle being around her because, "she's all bipolar, one minute she's fine and the next shes acting all crazy and upset for no reason." It kind of hurt my feelings. I was a bit shocked not expecting anyone to say anything like that. The way he was talking about his sister wasn't as if she had been diagnosed it was in the way that people stigmatize. No one said anything about it. But I just sat there feeling kind of off after that. It just king of put a dent in my mood at the time. I mean how can we ask the mentally stable world not to do this to us when we can't even stop doing it to each other. No one in group knows anyone's diagnosis. Not saying we have to because no one should say things like that. Im used to hearing it from people who don't experience mental illness but from someone who I struggles it's harder to hear I guess.

[99fairies]

That was a very unacceptable thing to say. Sorry you had to hear that. I would be fuming if I heard that, especially in that kind of setting.

[dshantel]

Originally Posted by 99fairies

That was a very unacceptable thing to say. Sorry you had to hear that. I would be fuming if I heard that, especially in that kind of setting.

I wanted to say something but I know that if I had I would have ended up leaving in tears.

Sounds like an idiot.

Even if bipolar meant "one minute you're fine, next minute you're not", he doesn't need to call her crazy.

What's the point in going to a support group if you're just going to insult people by calling them "crazy"?

I would talk to the group leader about his behavior and explain why it upset you. Then let the group leader confront him and possibly ban him from future sessions. Though, why didn't the group leader say something in the first place? They should put their foot down and say "I'm sorry, but we do not tolerate anyone in this group referring to another person as 'crazy'. This is a support group. If you would like, I can point you to resources you can look at to learn more about how to support a family member with bipolar disorder." That'll shut him up and force him to read about what the disorder is.