Posted by deirdrehbrt on September 8, 2004, at 19:33:50
In reply to What's wrong with me?, posted by Angela2 on September 8, 2004, at 18:46:11
Angela,
I know that sometimes I used to feel strange going to work after a T. appointment. It seemed like people could 'read it on me', like 'Dee's been to the shrink' sort of thing. I made my appointments at different times.
No-one ever did read that. They didn't even say much after a hospitalization. I think that our fears in that area say more about us than do the reactions of others. I don't mean that we should be overly concerned by our reactions, they aren't that strange. Perhaps though, that fear of coming in late speaks to the stigma of mental illness that many of us carry.
Someone could say that they were in late b/c football practice went over, or that the bus blew a tire. Those are 'good' 'stigma-free' reasons. People might be proud of them. You could say you went to a doctor appointment that took too long, and that too would be OK. When it comes to our minds though, we don't feel as free to say "I was in therapy". We worry about what others will think.
If someone else in the class were to say "I was in therapy", you would probably not think negatively of her, though you might wonder what was up. You would wonder what was up though, if it was a doctors appt. too. You would probably be, in a human way, concerned. The rest of the class would probably be feeling the same way as you, wondering what was up, but feeling compassion. They wouldn't be thinking they had something to fear from you.
I can't say that you shouldn't feel that fear, but I hope that you can see that it's probably not as bad as it feels. It's also something that we all go through.Dee
poster:deirdrehbrt
thread:388282
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040907/msgs/388318.html