Posted by jealibeanz on May 5, 2007, at 5:14:42
In reply to Re: Denial/Shame about Medications..., posted by Jedi on May 5, 2007, at 2:35:31
> Hi,
> Sometimes I feel like a walking pharmacy, but as a male in this society it still is not socially acceptable to be "mentally ill". So I hide it when I can and stay away from people when I can't. Only a handful of people, mostly family members, know I take any medications for my depression and anxiety. My current diagnosis is major atypical depression with social and generalized anxiety disorder. Before this I had undiagnosed dysthymia and social anxiety. My motto was, "Fake it til you make it". In public, I was usually able to put on a good act.
>
> The thing to remember, when you see your doctor, let the guard down. They have no clue what is wrong especially if you spend all of your energy covering up the problem. This treatment thing is so much trial and error anyway, try to give the doc a fair shot at seeing the real you.
> Be Well,
> JediOK, so, I'm not a guy... but I'll say this anyway. :)
I hear ya with the "male stigma" thing. I honestly think being a woman is fairly easy in our society. Forget about all the feminist ideas... we have it pretty easy and things keep getting better.
So we make a little less money on average and still are behind in politics. That's changing. Our current speaker of the house is a woman (who carried grandchildren in toe to her inaguration!) and we've got a strong female presidential candidate!
As a woman, I think I can get away with far more than men. It's OK for me to be sad, tired, depressed, lonely, scared, nervous, etc. I can be all of these things, plus make mistakes, and really not lose much professional credit or respect... although, this is partially due to the fact that men are the ones who've been my high-standing bosses, professor, mentors. Men are easy on women.
I know I need to let my guard down. I put on my biggest act when I'm at the doctor's office because I treat them like a future employer.
poster:jealibeanz
thread:755098
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070502/msgs/755968.html