I am going to start my story with a confession. I really, really don’t like the word ‘stigma’, I don’t even like to use it as ‘ignorance’ fits much better. I’ll never attack anyone for using the s-word because we all tend to be ignorant to things until we experience them ourselves. I was ignorant [...]

I  looked out my room’s window, taking in the winter scene that filled my soul, since I love the snowy season. I saw the all-too familiar streets I had grown up in, the tattoo shop where I got my first permanent ink, and the skyscrapers that made my heart feel warm. I was in the [...]

Growing up I was a miserable kid. I didn’t think anyone liked me and it made me feel like I lived in a bubble, not able to fit in. I felt isolated. Alone. That bubble is still with me today. Fortunately I don’t live in it anymore, but it still engulfs me now and then. [...]

My entire life I have been living with mental illness. For most of my life I wasn’t aware. I just thought what I was feeling was “normal” day to day life for everyone. I had a great home life. My parents divorced when I was quite young, however, both met new partners. I had two [...]

I’m the “artsy” one in my family; the black sheep. Translated, that means I’m the moody one. Or at least I always thought that was the reason for my dark moods growing up. To some extent that’s true. That sensitivity, thing – whatever it is, that makes us turn inside ourselves and feel things more [...]

I am not ashamed of my illness. I have bipolar disorder and you have a bad case of acne. Who cares right? Unfortunately, for some people, someone who has a mental illness is more than just that. To them, we are the myriad of distorted perceptions that are wrongly associated with our illnesses; crazy, psycho, [...]

There is still a lot of mystery about my own life that it seems a bit odd to be writing about it, which is sad, I should know everything about my own life. It is mine after all. What I do know is that when I was very young, my biological dad left. The only [...]

Truths and Stigmas Today I’m straying from my normal happy, silly self I present on Evil Joy Speaks. I’m honored to be writing a post as part of Stigma Fighters. I know many of you know my story, some or all of it. Many may not. If this message can help just one person, it’s [...]

Stigma from the Source by Dyane Leshin-Harwood “Stigma = a mark of disgrace or infamy; a stain or reproach, as on one’s reputation.” I was diagnosed with postpartum bipolar disorder in 2007, seven weeks after the birth of my daughter Rilla. I was thirty-seven when I admitted myself into our local hospital’s locked-down mental health [...]

I’ve been living with depression on and off since I was 13 years old. It’s a black hole that I haven’t been able to climb out of on my own when it reaches the clinical level. Everyone gets depressed sometimes, and a lot of people can get through it to the other side on their [...]