Posted by finelinebob on September 7, 2007, at 12:04:57
In reply to I'm angry because............, posted by deniseuk190466 on September 4, 2007, at 18:32:15
You've got a lot of valid reasons to be angry. Probably would make me even more angry.
Here in NYC near a rather busy intersection (Broadway, W72nd and Amsterdam) there is a yellow sign with large black letters that must be painted on the side of a building through atleast ten stories worth of prime advertising wall space:
Depression is a flaw in chemistry, not in character.
It's been there atleast 12 years now, the time I've been in New York. In some ways it's heartening because for those of us with neurological disorders it's like "Yeah, someone out there understands and is trying to make others understand."
Then I come across people like a former HR director at an old job who said, "Oh! You're on Zoloft? I was on that for a few months ... wonderful drug ... you should be back to normal in just a few months."
That's why I try to never describe what I have as an illness. The flu is an illness. Malaria is an illness. You have some biological entity that invades you and with the right chemicals to kill it off or help your body kill it off on itself, you can eradicate the illness. What I got ain't going away. I can mediate its affects through intaking chemicals and through behavioral changes, but it's always going to be with me. So I say I have disorders. By doing so I try to reshape what people think, since typically "disorders" are taken more seriously than illnesses and are often seen as permanent.
I don't know if any of that helps, but for me it helps fight the idea that what's wrong with me is no big deal ... one person at a time.
flb
poster:finelinebob
thread:780828
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070831/msgs/781386.html