Another Kind of Teaching.

I don't see myself ever teaching the way I used to again. But I can imagine leading a group meeting or teaching a class on mental illness for consumers, families, and friends or the general public.

So many misconceptions exist, and they keep spreading, even for the consumers themselves. I knew so little about my own disease--all I had were stereotypes and some anecdotes. When facing mental illness, people often react with fear (because it's so alien an because TV and movies often depict people with mental illness as

• out-of-control, 
• violent, 
• or soulless

or with anger

• "Grow up." 
• "You're just lazy/moody/deceptive." 
• "Treatment is for people who are really sick." 
• "You're just like a typical teenager.". 

So with any class, I would start with those misconceptions, see where they come from, and see how we can replace them with true statements, which may reveal fear more than anything else

• "I acknowledge that you have a real illness even though it scares me." 
• "I'm afraid because I don't know how to relate to you or take care of you." 
• "There's no way I'll get all my questions answered."

But we can get close! It will just require a lot of forgiveness and a lot of courage all around.