Please Stop Telling Schizophrenics to See an Exorcist
There was another comment on the VICE documentary I did that asked if I’ve seen an exorcist.
I’d like to laugh, but the truth is this is not the first time I’ve been asked this question. People message me on Instagram and Twitter asking me this, telling me I should “try it as a form of medication”.
While I can always appreciate alternative ways of thinking about mental illness, this is not helpful. Schizophrenia is a brain disorder. It is neurological like Parkinson’s. Are you asking people with Parkinson’s if they have seen an exorcist?
It’s not like we can laugh this off and block the person. Schizophrenics are already demonized in the media. We’re mass murderers, we can’t be trusted. We are still discriminated against. We don’t have a celebrity advocating for our illness. Stigma is at an all time high for us. Basically, how society treats us makes us feel like we’re shit and when you tell us to see an exorcist we’re now not only shit but evil. It’s really not helpful, telling us the medication is not needed because we are possessed by a demon.
Please just stop. Don’t @ me, okay? I am not possessed. I am not evil. I am not living in another dimension, okay. I have a brain disorder, a disability. You don’t tell people with cancer there is like a gremlin in their colon. This is not an episode of Supernatural, okay. If that’s what you think, fine, don’t even read this blog. Just don’t contact me ever. Please. People like you are the reason that people with serious mental disorders do not get treatment.
