Types of reactions when you tell people you’re schizophrenic.
The ignorant one: “So… schizophrenia? Do you mean you’ve got like, a second evil personality?” This person has a completely incorrect idea of what schizophrenia is that they’re very unwilling to give up.
The scared one: “Schizophrenics… aren’t they dangerous? Have you hurt someone? Are you violent? Should I be scared, haha?” This person will likely change their behavior towards you after hearing about your diagnosis and will generally do their best to keep their distance.
The fascinated one: “Wow, that’s SO interesting… What’s it like? Do you hear voices? What do they say? Are they saying something about me?” This person will treat you as a human science experiment and will ask you a 100 invasive questions about your illness if they get the chance.
The edgy one: “We’re all a little crazy… I’ve got a pretty dark mind too, haha. Normal people scare me, you get what I mean?” This person will act like their fascination with serial killers and horror movies somehow equals being schizo spec.
The incredulous one: “But you really don’t LOOK schizophrenic… You seem completely normal to me? I mean, I’m pretty sure I would have noticed if you had something like that. I’m pretty sure you don’t have that, actually. If you do have it you must be very high functioning, right?” This person seems to think that mental illness is immediately visible to everyone and will likely continue to invalidate you if you don’t fulfill all the horror movie stereotypes.
The spiritual one: “But what if it’s actually demons or ghosts or gods? What if you really have special powers? What if you can see everything as it really is and I’m actually the crazy one?” This person will treat your delusions and hallucinations as interesting thought experiments or as props for their own spiritual beliefs with zero regards for how their “interesting theories” might affect your mental health.
The one you should aim to be: “Thanks for trusting me enough to tell me this. What’s having schizophrenia like for you? Is there anything I can do, don’t do or do differently to make things easier on you?” This person may not know much about schizophrenia, but they are willing to listen, learn and do their best to support you.
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