I am reading through various journals to learn about schizophrenia and the long-term outcomes of this illness. I have access to a myriad of journals thanks to being enrolled as a graduate student at my University for this fall. These are legitimate, peer-reviewed articles, so I know I am getting good material.
As a schizo-affective person who has been chronically hospitalized since the age of 19 to the age of 26, I am eager to know what chance I have of living a productive life. Unfortunately, the picture many writers paint is a bleak life of "chronicity."
Estroff, a researcher cited repeatedly in the article, "Culture, Stress, and Recovery from Schizophrenia," [Myers] accuses the Recovery movement of creating a passive mental patient that is only independent on the surface, but is actually being "coerced" financially and medically by recovery staff. This is in contrast to society's stereotype of lunatics running amok, naked and wielding weapons, barely able to contain the urges within them. Instead, according to Estroff, lunatics are little more than clay in the hands of recovery staff, who mold them into shapes and control every facet of their lives.
I do not know who you are, or how you perceive schizophrenics, but trust me, we usually do not run amok in the streets. We are also not likely to meekly hand ourselves over to a life of poverty and constant monitoring with no reason. What could these reasons be? Well, it might be that society is prejudiced against people with a mental illness and they refuse to hire them. It might be because the only way a mentally ill person can get their medication is to give up any semblance of a normal life, deal with being controlled by outside forces (and for a skitz, this is really scary), and accept poverty and unemployment in order to qualify for government medical coverage. The other choice would be to attempt to gain a foothold in the workforce and maintain medical insurance through the employer (and what employer doesn't love the idea of paying 700 dollars for a month's supply of anti-psychotics?). Indeed, the choices in the U.S. are limited (not non-existent, just limited).
Am I painting a bleak picture? I apologize. I really want to get through this graduate program, work full-time, and maintain my illness on my own. I am just nervous that future employers will discriminate against me....but if they do...class action lawsuit! woohoo!
Below is the DOI number for the article I was reading just now. DOI is the identification number for an article that is published in an online academic journal. The journal is called "Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry."
Cult Med Psychiatry (2010) 34:500–528
DOI 10.1007/s11013-010-9186-7
Thanks for reading! If I read anymore good articles and I have a comment, I'll post a new blog entry! :)
As a schizo-affective person who has been chronically hospitalized since the age of 19 to the age of 26, I am eager to know what chance I have of living a productive life. Unfortunately, the picture many writers paint is a bleak life of "chronicity."
Estroff, a researcher cited repeatedly in the article, "Culture, Stress, and Recovery from Schizophrenia," [Myers] accuses the Recovery movement of creating a passive mental patient that is only independent on the surface, but is actually being "coerced" financially and medically by recovery staff. This is in contrast to society's stereotype of lunatics running amok, naked and wielding weapons, barely able to contain the urges within them. Instead, according to Estroff, lunatics are little more than clay in the hands of recovery staff, who mold them into shapes and control every facet of their lives.
I do not know who you are, or how you perceive schizophrenics, but trust me, we usually do not run amok in the streets. We are also not likely to meekly hand ourselves over to a life of poverty and constant monitoring with no reason. What could these reasons be? Well, it might be that society is prejudiced against people with a mental illness and they refuse to hire them. It might be because the only way a mentally ill person can get their medication is to give up any semblance of a normal life, deal with being controlled by outside forces (and for a skitz, this is really scary), and accept poverty and unemployment in order to qualify for government medical coverage. The other choice would be to attempt to gain a foothold in the workforce and maintain medical insurance through the employer (and what employer doesn't love the idea of paying 700 dollars for a month's supply of anti-psychotics?). Indeed, the choices in the U.S. are limited (not non-existent, just limited).
Am I painting a bleak picture? I apologize. I really want to get through this graduate program, work full-time, and maintain my illness on my own. I am just nervous that future employers will discriminate against me....but if they do...class action lawsuit! woohoo!
Below is the DOI number for the article I was reading just now. DOI is the identification number for an article that is published in an online academic journal. The journal is called "Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry."
Cult Med Psychiatry (2010) 34:500–528
DOI 10.1007/s11013-010-9186-7
Thanks for reading! If I read anymore good articles and I have a comment, I'll post a new blog entry! :)
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