A Personal Perspective: You can be symptom-free of schizophrenia while on medication, as am I. Here are my changing reactions over the years when professionals don't agree.
It can be tempting to listen to someone who says you can't have schizophrenia due to stigma.You should be proud of your strength and perseverance when battling schizophrenia.In my experience, there is a prevailing misunderstanding among people in the public, as well as some in the medical profession, that you cannot be symptom-free if you have schizophrenia.
My thoughts and reactions to these contradictory opinions have been many over the years, and my response when someone says this to me has evolved over time. I think in my early years of diagnosis, I struggled with cognitive and emotional healing, as well as coming to terms with such a stigmatized diagnosis, so I welcomed such feedback. But now, I have reversed logic. I now wear the label"schizophrenia" as a badge of honor, where it bothers me when people say I can’t have schizophrenia.
Of course, telling someone they must not really have a diagnosis can be risky and cause harm. Telling a patient that a mistake must have been made may lead a patient to question the diagnosis, medicinal treatment, and the value of their psychiatrist’s opinion.I have had two other licensed social workers tell me the same thing the first one did, but now I have a different reaction years later.
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