I bought into the stigmas about the mentally ill, until I became one of them

"Bipolar runs in my family, so I knew the harsh realities of this untreated illness. A family member faked his own death after a counterfeiting spending spree. My grandfather told people that I would die in a car accident, and he would take my body up to the mountain and bring me back to life.

When I was younger, surrounded by this family chaos, it was easy to tell myself, 'They are crazy!' I bought into many of the stigmas of mental illness — that those with mental illness are unpredictable, incompetent, and have trouble holding down a job.

I thought I was different. I was married to a hospital CEO, attended charity events, lived in a beautiful home, and had three healthy children. Yet, life felt unbearable. The stigmas around mental illness kept me from getting the help I desperately needed, so I continued to suffer in silence."

Sonja Wasden is a mental health advocate and co-author of An Impossible Life. 

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "I bought into the stigmas about the mentally ill, until I became one of them." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2021/06/i-bought-into-the-stigmas-about-the-mentally-ill-until-i-became-one-of-them.html)