In this article a successful community nurse named ‘Barb’ describes the difficulty she had finding a support group for working professionals who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. She explains,

“Two and a half years ago, I came to Manitoba Schizophrenia Society and asked whether they had a support group for working professionals like myself living with schizophrenia, and when they said no, Chris Summerville, the executive director of the society, said ‘Why don’t you start one?’” She had a good idea.

This might make you wonder just how many working professionals have schizophrenia or another mental illness. Working professionals probably do not have time during the day to go online to the forums that are set up for people with schizophrenia or other mental illnesses.

Barb, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1997, created the Partners in Awareness group at the Manitoba Schizophrenia Society. This is a peer support group that meets the first Tuesady of every month. When she’s not working, Barb volunteers her time facilitating the group.

Barb soon found that finding other working professionals to join the group was a challenge. She explains, “it’s been hard, at times, to get the message out because there is so much stigma–it’s so large and overwhelming, that a lot of people keep their diagnosis a secret…they want to stay in the closet.” With the help of her volunteers, Barb explains that she has managed to get out posters and a public service announcement to try and find more people to join the group.

When I was in college a professor told me that her cousin, who was a lawyer, had a mental illness and that there was a magazine out for working professionals who had mental illness. Although I never found this magazine, I’m certain that there are other working professionals like me who have been diagnosed with mental illness. They just don’t talk about it because of the stigma, I guess.

How does Barb deal with the stigma? She describes how her dad said that she was “lazy” and her brother said to “just snap out of it; just flip a switch and you’ll be fine.” Barb goes on to say, “it’s hard when you’re getting that kind of response from your own family.” Towards the end of the article she also points to the Vince Li case, where a man diagnosed with mental illness beheaded a sleeping passenger on a Greyhound bus. “That put us back years,” Barb explains, “just when we were starting to gain some ground.”

In my case, I was lucky that my family stuck by me in the face of stigma. Every time I face the stigma of living with mental illness I try and show my family members exactly who is treating me differently because of it. For example, I faced stigma at a pharmacy and showed my mom how they treated me before changing pharmacies.

Finally, Barb says in the article, “I guess what people need to know about schizophrenia is {that} as long as a person is compliant with taking medication, he or she can live a full life; you can have the same dreams and aspirations as someone living without {mental illness}.”

In spite of her mental illness, Barb has obtained two bachelors degrees–a bachelor of arts and a bachelor of nursing. I also received my bachelors and masters degrees after I was diagnosed with mental illness. It’s affirming to hear of other people like me who have gone on to achieve success like this in spite of their living with mental illness.