I have spoken with anger at the injustice I see towards people with mental illness like me. But angry words are not always counted as valid representations of what is believable and true.

And so if that’s the way things are, I will endeavor to speak with the grief underneath that anger. You will hear words that cry out on behalf of the people who suffer. They themselves have almost come to accept the pain of not being heard as their lot in life, because it’s always been like that.

I cry with tears you cannot see against the source of pain—the pain that comes from discrimination. Accepted by the masses because it’s always been there. Even the people who suffer, don’t see the wrong in it anymore.

We have rights like everyone, but they are denied to us.

Today I grieve, especially for those who are not given the right to be heard when they complain about a wrong done to them—denied their human rights.

There are many ways in which we’re stigmatized, but the most hurtful for me is being denied the right to speak and the right to be heard.

Today, I grieve, especially for the situation that recently developed for me when I lost psychiatric care because my doctor would not listen to me. I had tried to show him the research I did that would prove my suffering came from complex PTSD as a result of severe emotional abuse. His diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD) could not be correct. The traumatic memories that caused most of my suffering are not among the symptoms of BPD.

Complex PTSD is not in the DSM used here in North America. As a result some psychiatrists are in the dark about it. My psychiatrist did not know about CPTSD and was angered when I tried to explain. In November, an appointment I had made with him was cancelled, no explanation given. I was told to find a private psychiatrist, or be cared for by my primary practitioner. I’m now under the care of my general practitioner who has never shown an interest in my mental well-being. It’s not his field. The waiting lists for private psychiatrists are a year.

Why is it that attention is not given to upholding the rights that belong to people with mental illness in the way the rights belonging to others are? It’s as though we are expected to accept the wrongdoings done to us. We are not treated like the real people we are. We are not given a voice.

Illness doesn’t keep us from having a voice. We are predominantly prevented from having a voice because of the way we’re discriminated against. Most people with mental illness don’t have the strength to overcome injustices like this.

A stigmatizing world leaves them with low self-esteem and a lack of confidence. Isn’t it understandable then, that they lack the courage to stand up for themselves? Isn’t that why the status quo, which includes looking at people with mental health issues as inferior is considered okay?

People say, “but it’s always been this way.” But is that a reason for wrongs to continue? Just like the human rights for anyone are deserved and should be upheld, so should the rights of people with mental illness health issues be upheld.

marja