Overcoming mental health issues is a long, exhausting process that requires a lot of time and effort. However, facing societal pressure to be able to fit in again can be even more challenging. Some people might blame you for your illness, believing you have control over your symptoms or that you can make them disappear “if you tried.” Others might try to convince you that your feelings aren’t true; that your illness is just a phase. While this might be true as some mental issues are circumstantial, many are not.
People’s views on mental health patients are usually clouded with misjudgments, ignorance, and the stigmatization of different mental disorders’ portrayal. Patients often feel misunderstood and discriminated against because of stigma. Even worse, stigma sometimes stops people from seeking the help they need to avoid being criticized and feeling ashamed.
If you are feeling overwhelmed by the inability to face society, here are some things that may help you.
Get Help and Learn How to Adapt
Realizing that you are suffering is the first step toward treatment. You need to start pinning down your thoughts and emotions to understand what you are struggling with. The next step is to seek out a professional therapist to get the help you need. While you may feel reluctant at first, it’s a must that you force yourself to stick to your prescribed medication and keep your appointments. You shouldn’t let your insecurities or fears stop you, especially if it’s a fear of being labeled with a mental disorder. Therapy will focus on tackling your issues for you to be able to lead a healthy life. It’s important to learn how to ease back into society.
A huge part of therapy should be dedicated to learning how to cope with life after your recovery journey; returning to your old routine, restoring school or job status, and reconnecting with your friends and loved ones. Michael Falcone from Jackson House (https://jacksonhousecares.com/) says that a large part of counseling at mental health centers should be focused on how the clients will take care of themselves once they leave the center. Bouncing back to normal life might be trickier than initially expected. Yet, you can ease back using healthier coping mechanisms, and having extensive social support. This may even give you a more positive outlook on your recovery journey. In the end, it’s supposed to be a rewarding journey of self-love and discovering who you truly are.
Learn More
It’s easy to give in to common, yet incorrect ideas when you don’t understand something well enough. For instance, people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) often dread their diagnosis because they are viewed as manipulative, psychotic, dramatic, and even suicidal. Attempts among these patients are viewed as a desperate attempt to seek attention. This portrayal might apply to some patients, but stereotyping suggests that all borderline patients have the same mind and personality. This simply isn’t true. Personality disorders are categorized as a controversial diagnosis, which means that our understanding of their symptoms is constantly evolving.
Another example is the portrayal of all depressed people as passive society members that are unable to function properly. People who suffer from high-functioning depression experience most of the symptoms associated with depression, not necessarily less in severity, but can still function and engage in long-term commitments. If someone isn’t aware of these differences they may feel that their experiences or feelings aren’t valid. Ignorance in these situations may cost lives.
Talk About It
You have spent long hours in therapy figuring out how to tackle your fears and express your emotions. These sessions have taught you the greatest hack to fight stigma; talking about it. The majority of people tend to show aggression when faced with something they don’t understand. It might be hard to open up and show weakness at the beginning. Stigma creates self-doubt and strong feelings of shame, or even guilt. When you start describing what you are suffering from in detail without giving in to these feelings, you are helping other people learn more about the mental illness you are struggling with.
People in the mental health community can help send a very important message that greatly helps destroy common misconceptions by sharing their different stories and experiences. This will eventually convey the idea that every experience is different and unique. Eventually, this may lead people to stop generalizing. We need to start accepting that people may, or may not, show different symptoms to stop demeaning people who suffer from high-functioning disorders. This is the best way to fight stigma and get rid of all its proverbial chains.
Support Groups
Transitioning between the life you had in treatment centers, to life without professional help might be daunting at first even if you have dreaded your treatment process. Feeling like you are on your own out in the world is the hardest obstacle you might face when you are trying to blend into society again. However, you can join a support group to provide you with the emotional support you need. The difference between support groups and group support sessions is that the former is usually led by the members themselves while the latter is led by a therapist. The role support groups play after any rehabilitation program is vital for a robust and effective aftercare plan. You can find many state and federal agencies that focus on vocational rehabilitation to choose from. If you don’t want to engage in a support group in its traditional sense, you can instead participate in some of the groups available for reducing stigma by educating people more about mental disorders.
Before you start planning a move, it’s important to make sure that you fully understand the type of mental disorder you are dealing with. After leaving the rehabilitation center, it might be harder to fit right back into your old life. Recovery journeys need some patience, effort, and a variety of treatment methods. Preparing yourself for restoring the normal flow of your old daily life should be an integral part of your recovery process.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
LinkedIn
RSS