I am at work today (not internship) and we in a meeting discussing new intakes for the programs. My coworker was discussing a man with schizophrenia who is on Risperdal and Lithium. The MANAGER of the partial hospital program says, "He's on Lithium? That's strange. That's rare these days. Lithium is old and not prescribed much anymore because of the blood level testing and no one wants to be bothered with that." I wanted to burst out laughing because I am on Lithium and it is very manageable. Once stabilized, the blood level testing is barely once a month-- hardly enough to interfere with my life so much that I would get annoyed. Plus, I cannot believe he would make a statement like that because although Lithium is an old drug, it is still widely used. I see that all the time at my intership.

It also made me angry because being in the field, I get tired of hearing about the stigma-- how awful people with personality disorders are-- how people with bipolar disorder can't function well in their careers-- I hear it all the time, and there I am, sitting there diagnosed with borderline, bipolar, and GAD..... how no one will even stop and think that perhaps someone in their meeting or in their classroom could BE on Lithium or HAVE a personality disorder. I mean, how stupid. So many of us who go into the field do so because we have experienced these things ourselves and can offer great empathy for others.

[MissCharlotte]

Pinksoil,

Yes, unfortunately MI is one of the last prejudices that are still acceptable to bandy about in public. Your coworkers wouldn't make racial generalizations, now would they? Of course not!

I experienced something similar recently. A coworker was describing some friends of hers and how they had their hands full with a son who had schizophrenia. And she said she was so glad she didn't have to deal with "anything like that."

I wanted to jump up and choke her. I think your reaction was much kinder, laughing inside.



Off to T I go.......

[sunrise]

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
pinksoil said:
how stupid

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">That about sums it up.

Pinksoil, you will be able to make even more of a contribution in your field because of your firsthand experiences. The profession is lucky to have you.

(BTW, my H has NPD and has a very successful career.)

[Kiya]

somewhere in these boards i ran across an article that said something like "look around at your co-workers (in this field), one out of 3 is dealing with MI."

[splitimage]

If you haven't already you should read Kay Jamesfield Raddison's book An Unquiet Mind. It's incredibly well written and a moving story of her struggles with bi-polar and her careed as a clinical psychologist and med school professor. And yup she's on lithium too.

splitimage

Yup, my T recommended that book for me and it has been a huge inspiration in my decision to talk to my colleagues in my field about my personal experience with mental illness.

My co-worker once said when I was talking about my dog's infected cut paw.....

"Maybe she (the dog) did that stupid-teenage thing where they cut themselves for their parent's attention."

Another time, my co-worker said "People use mental illness to manipulate others..be careful."

I was so

Can you believe that????????????

[mick07]

I so agree. I have PTSD from childhood trauma. I just had to sit through a 4 hour training on trauma, PTSD, and boderline personality disorder. ( Only to have an appointment with my T later that afternoon.) I don't know which was worse being lumped into one group and told what, how and why I feel and act as I do OR sitting in therapy being aware of of my T using techniques for dealing with me that I just learned in the training!!!!

i had to contact the human rights commission to inquire about making a complaint to which i was told i had more than a valid right to make.

slights and ignorance are most insidious bc of the nature of them.. no one realizes. Its ignorance and not malice... but malice is still there, so what hope have we against something as slippery as ignorance?

so awful and mean and hurtful it is that i am working hard to get my "label" changed... the treatment is exactly the same, but the ignorance against it is not

sad times

Not terribly surprising, unfortunately. The worst stigma I've ever encountered has been at the hands of supposed mental health 'professionals'. There are some good ones, of course, but my experience is that they really are few and far between. Worth their weight in gold, really.