tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317925651753639985.post6788734675113830867..comments2023-09-10T06:52:18.149-07:00Comments on Schizophrenia at the Schoolgate: Newcastle (2)Schizophrenia at the Schoolgatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03839755338912448705noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5317925651753639985.post-11080815400422822452012-10-05T14:20:21.693-07:002012-10-05T14:20:21.693-07:00Just wanted to add a postscript to this blog post ...Just wanted to add a postscript to this blog post - one thing that has been on my mind since Newcastle was how sanctimonious and narrow-minded I must seem at times to others. When I heard myself, during my talk, saying that people with mental health problems should not smoke, and should get back to work, voluntary or paid, as soon as they are able, I was aware of my own hypocrisy. I lounged around for years! I smoked like a chimney! And just because I am now better, I do not have the right to tell others how to live their lives. I nagged poor Henry Cockburn throughout dinner on his heavy roll-up habit - but on reflection I recognise that Henry is capable of making his own decisions. He will find the path to recovery in his own good time - and it may be a different route from the one I took. <br /><br />In fact, Henry, when I asked whether he would rather have been diagnosed 'Bi-polar' said that he was 'Proud to be a schizophrenic'. Perhaps that is what is holding him back.<br /><br />Or perhaps I am wrong, and one should be proud to be 'a schizophrenic'? I will keep writing and speaking about my views on mental health though. Because if anybody is inspired to question the title 'Schizophrenic' for themselves or for another, through anything I say or write, I think that can only be a good thing. <br /><br /> Schizophrenia at the Schoolgatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03839755338912448705noreply@blogger.com