Being aware of mental illness like schizophrenia means not infantilizing people when you see they are visibly unwell. It means treating people with cognitive issues as equals. It means respecting people when their mind fails them and they are dependent upon medication. Doesn't matter if they hold a job, or whether they are unhoused and unshowered, or if they are causing a "disturbance". Behind us simply inconveniencing you is our near inescapable suffering that is unavoidable without caring community at our backs. To possess awareness of people with schizophrenia like me means accepting we are sometimes "embarrassing" and still standing by us when we are in the midst of psychosis. No matter how sick we get we are still deserving of genuine respect, compassion and empathy. If you peer beyond the movies and the shows and the media, when you really look at us, you'll see we're more like you than you think. You will see we're humans like any other, just with a different set of issues. This diagnosis doesn't equate to evil or heartlessness or violence or monstrosity or anything horrific. People such as myself with this illness will always be here and undetected the vast majority of the time as we always have been. You need to be conscious that we aren't going anywhere now or any time soon. You need to be informed that what is actually evil is locking us up, forcing medication, physically restraining us and making us into the equivalent of jokes because of your imaginations. We have to endure things we may never forget by staff we will never forget in psych wards. We have to resist an entire society that wants us eliminated despite our innocence. We have to experience hell in our minds only to realize this world itself is also hellish towards us. But you can change things with small acts of sincere kindness. You can alter things by simply fostering the awareness that no matter how sick we get we still see you, hear you and sense you. You can make an impact by just knowing we need community and ethical medical care which in the western world doesn't exist. Understand that psychiatry is good but needs drastic modifications to be better. Comprehend that you can make a monumental impact for us who need it desperately with little things like a genuine smile. So thank you for participating, however possible, towards mental health awareness month. You are also seen and respected as well. We need you more than you know. You play a critical role in the change that needs to happen. It begins with people like me with mental illness but the torch gets handed off to you.
