Dr. Saks’s story was a very deep, thought provoking one. Listening to her describe her condition was truly eye opening about mental illnesses. People are always trying to describe mental illnesses even though they’ve never experienced them. The “typical narrative” of schizophrenia is that the patient has distinct personalities, and they are competing to control the patient. Hearing Dr. Saks describe her experiences showed how far off the general public is with their understanding of the condition. Public ignorance of mental illness is not just for schizophrenia. Lots of people claim to have disorders they’ve never been diagnosed with. If you were to poll people in the street, a lot would probably claim to have OCD, when in reality, most of them don’t.
As a society, we seem to be moving in the right direction in terms of getting rid of the stigma attached to mental illnesses, but despite the progress there is still a long way to go. Lots of people are still afraid to get help for their issues because they don’t want to believe they have a “problem”. A major part of the reason people like Dr. Saks are able to overcome their issues is because they got help. People are reluctant to go to doctors for mental issues because of the stigma, but they are willing to go to the doctor when they have a cough. As a society, we need to collectively get rid of the stigma of mental illnesses. People shouldn’t be afraid to get help for their problems, but society still makes them feel uncomfortable acknowledging them.
Ben's PSY105 Blog 
I agree with your understanding of the subject. Another social stigma also relates to autism, both widely recognized but is not properly acknowledged. I lived with an older sister who has autism for most of my life, and I understood the difference between how it’s portrayed in the media and real-life. While the media mainly shows autistic people as level-headed, childish and lackluster, it doesn’t describe the impact it shows on the family or loved ones supporting them. While I have known my sister as childish at times, I knew that she was smart for her age and her hyper-fixation may let her perceive things differently than others; and there are other people on the spectrum that can behave normally and live their own lives without supervision, despite their previous treament. Like other mental illnesses, people need to understand the implications of knowing or living with someone who thinks and behaves differently than others, and how to cope to this kind of change.
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