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Writer's pictureJames G Yeo

The Author's Corner number 5

Today I am going to be talking about Schizophrenia as I battle with the stigma of it every day and the recovery process that I have taken.


As any of you that has read my bio on the website, you all know that I was diagnosed in 2005 with Schizophrenia. My recovery has been a road that has challenged me is so many different ways. For the first part is the stigma that the media has made it out to be. In a couple words, it is not a positive stigma. Anytime it is brought up it is in a negative light that says that we who suffer are monsters. This is not true in so many ways. For the majority of us we stay on our meds and live a normal life for those who have a disability. A lot of us continue to work along side you.


The one problem is that when we let our illness known to our co-workers when asked we are met with fear of the illness where there is a misunderstanding. Then most of the time we loose that job because of story's that those people who we have told about us. This is one of the battles that I have faced and for the most part I have been open about my illness and the things that I deal with. When we get hired from a potential employer we have to let them know about our illness and that goes for most mental illnesses. That way the employer knows what we have and most of the time that is when the call back never happens. Something that has to change.


Another battle has been remaining stable on my medication. My medication makes me feel like I am sluggish. The hard part was trying to work a full time with those who would hire me. A few times when there were problems with getting my medication right I was taken out of the work force by my doctor. As well I missed shifts because of flare ups from it. I have lost jobs because of missing days to bad days that I was going through.


To let you know what a bad day is for me, it is like being in a crowed room with people talking at different levels. On days like that I have medication that I take, however the side effects puts me to sleep.


Since I was diagnosed I had to look at it in a different way to stay positive and not look at it as the end of my life. I have taken a stance that I will keep moving towards my dreams and goals and for those who want to here how I am trying to break the stigma. I have published a few books, made a return to my career as a Chef and then in 2020 the illness has taken me out of the work world for the rest of my life. Since then I have continued to write to follow a new career as an Author.


If you know someone who suffers from any mental illness the best thing you can do is be there as a true friend and let then know that you are part of their safety net.


Stay safe.

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