- Dec 17, 2009
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How I wish this country would treat mental illness like an illness instead of like a life choice
I used to think the stigma of mental illness would be gone. However, I have decided it will not happen in my lifetime. Even in my profession, the stigma attaches. Mine is the most UNglamorous job in nursing. Over the spectrum of nursing, the pay is less for those of us who work in psychiatry. If we didn't love the job we wouldn't stay in it. I have NP friends in dermatology who make a great deal more than I do. LOL. But I can't complain. I do pretty well.
It never really occurred to me that the way the profession looks down upon us in psychiatry was the stigma of mental illness attaching to the providers, but this article in Current Psychiatry articulates it very well. Even in the medical profession, MDs don't consider psychiatrists to be doctors, just we in psych nursing aren't considered to be 'real' nurses.
Invisible tattoos: The stigmata of psychiatry — Current Psychiatry Online
that could be because psychiatry is a pseudo -science funded by pharma companies
I do not get paid to convince you of the validity of my profession.