Stigma…or how to deal with the idiots.
The word itself has a splendid definition provided to us by
Erving Goffman already sometime ago. He described it as “the phenomenon whereby
an individual with an attribute which is deeply discredited by his/her society
is rejected as a result of the attribute.”
I define it as just idiotism. It is exactly in the same
category as racism, only if we do hear the occasional cries for sanity from all
those who are victims of racism, in the domain of mental health it is still
mostly all silent. Wrongly so, I must say, because if we (the mental) all
united and spoke, then doctors would act as less superior, we would feel as
less oppressed and the world would be a much better place to live. But we are
not yet there, are we? And so, how to deal with stigma meanwhile?
My experience shows that you need to act superior to all
those who think they are superior because they don’t have a mental health
problem. For a start, most of us do have a mental health problem and I know
plenty of people who simply prefer not to talk about it, and even if you do
stumble occasionally upon an individual who is normal and slightly arrogant,
then you need to act quickly in your defence. And the best defence while being
mental is our imagination. I am lucky because I speak with an accent and once someone
tells me that they are such and such, shop in that shop and have a huge house
in that area, I just reply that I work for KGB and am in this country on an
undercover mission. This usually does the trick as it eliminates all the
annoying people and leaves the interesting ones, those who start inquiring
about how to get a job with KGB.
KGB doesn’t always work, and so one needs to think of other
potential superior lines. I once sat down and researched the languages that
hardly anyone can speak. And so, if someone asks me what I do in life (I am
actually a doctor of philosophy, a writer and speak 4 languages), I sometimes
answer that I am a linguist and speak 6 languages. I then proceed to mention
all the languages I know, such as Chamicuro, Basque, Frisian, Faroese, Sarsi,
and Tok Pisin.
I can reassure you that you will be greeted with a dropped
jaw if you pretend to be a linguist in rare languages.
Another good line is to say that you are dealer. I reckon
that I used it only three times and no one volunteered to ask about the details
of my job as a dealer. People immediately assume that you are a dealer in drugs
(and those to whom I revealed this profession never talked to me again, I have
to say) but in case someone turns out to be extra-curious, just say that you
are a dealer in pants, and then add something like: ‘they banned all sexy pants
in Russia, so I am shipping the nice ones back’.
And opportunities are endless. You see, as mental people we
are blessed with imagination! So, use it! And use it to combat stigma, because
once the normal ones will learn that all the mentals hold the most interesting
jobs, they will be eager to join the crowd.
