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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Batang><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Batang;color:black'>Hello Tree,</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Batang><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Batang;color:black'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Batang><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Batang;color:black'>You wrote:</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Batang><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Batang;color:black'>“You, Rosana, are absolutely free
to hold any beliefs you hold, both as an individual and as an advocate. I
happen to believe that your use of the word unstable to reference behavior you
do not like is just the kind of stigma that perpetuates many of the problems
people with mental health disabilities have. If even an advocate for
persons with mental health disabilities cannot identify stigma when she sees
it.” </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Batang><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Batang;color:black'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Batang><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Batang;color:black'>I wish it were only a behaviour I “don’t
like”. I wouldn’t have used the word “unstable” to
reference to a disagreement, or a difference in taste.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Batang><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Batang;color:black'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Batang><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Batang;color:black'>I happen to think that mood swings just
happen, and it’s not the fault of the person that has them, because s/he
can’t do anything about it. What *<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>is</span></b>*
a matter of responsibility is to decide whether to act on them or not. I might
feel like strangling a person, but I don’t act on that urge and should I
decide to, I would accept consequences for it (that is, people locking me
away).</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Batang><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Batang;color:black'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Batang><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Batang;color:black'>Stigma is multifaceted. *<b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>Part</span></b>* of the stigma is rooted in people being
afraid of whatever is different, especially in the brain, and especially in
Western societies. Another part of it is rooted into people witnessing *<b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>some</span></b>* persons with mental illness using
their mental illness (for example, mood swings) to *<b><span style='font-weight:
bold'>justify</span></b>* their bad behaviour, not accepting responsibility for
what they do wrong (aka acting on mood swings, saying stuff like “it’s
not my fault if I yelled at you, I have bipolar”). </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Batang><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Batang;color:black'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Batang><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Batang;color:black'>So, I happen to fight stigma by fighting
those behaviours as well (not just “other”’s ignorance).</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Batang><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Batang;color:black'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Batang><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Batang;color:black'>My “expertise” relates to
the fact that I have bipolar, I have loved ones with it, I am a medical student
(master thesis in Psychiatry), the founder of a self-help online group, a
volunteer manager advocating for inclusion of volunteers with mental illness, a
management consultant crafting accommodation policies, and a writer that got
works on psychiatric rehabilitation and advocacy published quite some times.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Batang><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Batang'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Batang><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Batang'>This is not to flaunt my expertise BUT to say: in order to
understand stigma and to fight it, multiple perspectives are neeed, not just
the one from the person with mental illness.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Batang><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Batang'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Batang><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Batang'>Think about yourself being “normal” and
witnessing somebody acting out demanding to have such behaviour condoned in the
name of mood swings that can’t be controlled while you, the “normies”,
can’t afford to yell at your boss. Then tell me why a normal person might
have it in with a person with mental illness.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Batang><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Batang'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Batang><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Batang'>Rosanna</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face=Batang><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Batang;color:blue'> </span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'>"Knowledge must come through
action"<br>
-Sophocles </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'><a
href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gionnetto">https://www.linkedin.com/in/gionnetto</a></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>-----Original Message-----<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>From:</span></b> OSLIST
[mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>On
Behalf Of </span></b>Tree Fitzpatrick<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Tuesday, March 07, 2006 1:44
PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: some recent bigotry
on this list</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>There is no reason to assume anyone that has been
identified as having any mental health disability is 'clearly mentally unstable'
simply because they do something we do not like.<br>
<br>
And there is no reason to perpetuate false myths about people with mental
health disabilities by claiming that anyone who exhibits less than perfect
behavior, such as spouting off when angry, indicates that person is
'unstable'. To be bandying about the word 'unstable', with clear
references, be they implicit or explicit, that the reference is suggesting that
the person in question has a tendency to imbalance is perpetuating some deeply
entrenched myths about what it means to be a person with a mental health
disability. If Birgitt had not mentioned that the participants at her
event all had bipolar or schizophrenia, but had, instead, simply told a story
about someone who misbehaved and exhibited a bad temper, then I am fairly
certain that Paul would not have employed the phrase 'clearly mentally
unstable', that you would not now be lumping all people who have ever lost
their temper into the category of 'mentally unstable', etc. The stigma
that inhibits people with mental health disabilities from living full lives is
subtly pervasive in all our thoughts. You, Rosana, are absolutely free to
hold any beliefs you hold, both as an individual and as an advocate. I
happen to believe that your use of the word unstable to reference behavior you
do not like is just the kind of stigma that perpetuates many of the problems
people with mental health disabilities have. If even an advocate for
persons with mental health disabilities cannot identify stigma when she sees
it. . .<br>
<br>
I have been an advocate for the mentally ill in numerous roles myself,
Rosana. As an attorney, I represented many people with mental health
disabilities. I have worked as an advocate for a few advocacy
organizations. And, as I have disclosed, I am someone with a mental
health disability. I mention my expertise,Rosana, only because you have
mentioned yours.<br>
<br>
Sincerely,<br>
Tree Fitzpatrick, MS, JD<br>
<br>
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