Michael Corry

We have all heard the heroic stories of fund-raising activities for sick children needing urgent operations. There is no danger of being stigmatised and shunned. But whoever heard of a sponsored walk for ‘Johnny the schizophrenic’, who needs a safe space and hours of specialised one-to-one and group therapy?

Those who can’t quickly pull themselves together are thought to be spineless, weak, unco-operative and lazy — in a culture where success and achievement are venerated, who wants to be any of these?

Well-meaning suggestions are laced with judgements and advice. They imply that with enough ‘willpower’ and ‘backbone’ it is possible to summon up the necessary strength to overcome the problem.

Psychological distress has a stigma that physical disease doesn’t share. This adds an extra layer of difficulty over and above the symptoms themselves.

If my mind is the place which my memories call ‘home’ and if I have lost it, then where am I to be found?

We are no longer cavemen but we still live in a jungle, the urban jungle, where the lion is the taxman and the car an approaching deadline.

Our threats are now both internal and external and operate at a much more subtle level. At times we may be unaware that we ourselves trigger the fear response by being self-critical and feeling that we are not being the people we ‘should’ be.

f we see symptoms as expressions of an underlying personal history, they can be valuable sources of information — they can point the way to a solution. In much the same way as a pain in our big toe draws our attention to an ingrown toenail, a psychological symptom alerts us to an underlying problem. Anaesthetising the symptom or shooting the messenger defeats its purpose and is not a wise move.

Surely one of the fundamental laws of consciousness must be: As I am perceived by others, so shall I perceive myself.

The imprint left by years of self-loathing is not likely to be shifted by a pill or a potion.