Random thoughts about visiting psychiatrists
Why do many people look around furtively before slipping unobtrusively into a psychiatrist’s clinic, reminding me of a burglar, but, when they visit any other specialist I doubt whether they do that? No, they walk in openly instead of checking whether there is anyone around who might notice what kind of doctor they are visiting. By doing this, they are simply adding to the stigma associated with mental illness.
I have to admit that at first I was guilty of doing the same thing. WHY? Because I wasn’t able to cope with the fact that I was the mother of a son who was behaving strangely, who was having unusual thoughts and who was telling us that people were after him. And yes, it took me a long time before I realized that if I told people about David, came straight out with the problem, they would no longer talk behind our backs and might even be more understanding and empathetic.
