I go to work, no one knows I'm schizophrenic.
I make prosthetic feet, none of the costumers know the person who made their prosthetic is schizophrenic.
I go to the grocery store, none of the fellow shoppers or cashiers know I'm schizophrenic.
I take the bus, no one knows I'm schizophrenic.
I go to concerts, no one knows I'm schizophrenic.
I sing karaoke at bars, no one knows I'm schizophrenic.
I pass my neighbors in the stairway, no one knows I'm schizophrenic.
I walk in the park, none of the owners of the dogs I pet know I'm schizophrenic.
Sure, these people may notice that I seem anxious, odd, maybe spaced out at times, but they don't know I'm schizophrenic.
So you don't know that if the strangers around you are schizophrenic either. We are ~0.3-1% of the population. We are everywhere. We are your coworkers, your classmates, your neighbors, the people at the grocery store or on the bus, the people singing at the bars and concerts, the people in your friend group or family. We are part of your community, part of society, part of your life. You wouldn't know unless we told you, and we often don't because of the unfair stigma against us.
Just please consider that we may be close by the next time you choose to make fun of us, or demonize us, or erase us.
And yes, we are also the people speaking to someone that isn't there on the side of the road, or living in a long term psychiatric facility, or locked up in prison, but we are all still part of your community, part of society and part of your life and deserve the same respect that any other human deserves.
Just because you don't care about us, doesn't mean we aren't there.
So true. I dont care what mental health issues you have- youre human first and foremost
