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Schizo is not a bad word. It isn't unkind or cruel. Schizo is not an insult. It's a disorder.
Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. People with schizophrenia may seem like they have lost touch with reality. Although schizophrenia is not as common as other mental disorders, the symptoms can be very disabling. -National Institute of Mental Health.
Advocates are fighting for change in the way we talk about schizophrenia in an effort to fight against the atrocity that is our current reality. People are screaming from the rooftops "I am not schizophrenic! I am a person with schizophrenia!" because in the eyes of society, schizophrenia is awful. Schizophrenia is so awful that people don't want themselves labeled with it. Schizophrenia is so awful that politicians use schizo as an insult to people they don't like. And I get it. I get why people lose their shit when I say schizophrenic. And I get why people use schizo as an insult - it's the same reason others use retarded as one. Because people fear what they don't understand.
Life doesn't teach you how to react when someone says they have schizophrenia. There is no class in high school that teaches you how to deal with this kind of thing. In the absence of knowledge, our minds jump to conclusions. We see TV and movies and homeless people, we see killers and what the media tells us. We see everything but the truth. And when someone acts crazy, they must be schizo. It's easier to make jokes than admit most likely this person is just an asshole.
But schizos are not just any of these things. Some of us are writers and painters and corporate professionals who live productive lives and make contributions to society. Some of us don't deserve to be put down when people run around and make a joke out of something we can't control. None of us do. None of us deserve that. It's just like people with developmental challenges. A person is not retarded if they make a joke that's not funny. That person is just not funny.
Please stop using schizo as an insult. We are not an insult. We are human beings who deserve respect just like everyone else.
