I’m thinking about stigma this morning. On a bright summer day when the wind is calm and the sky is blue complete with two swallow tail butterflies flitting past to the next flower. So how does that work? Sweeping my patio of all the debris the wind of the last few weeks has blown in, I let my thoughts wander. The winds had also spread some of the mulch for the gardens into the cracks and corners of the patio blocks. Spider homes webbed behind my storage bin. You see, my wandering thoughts were also about the stigmas towards a variety of chronic diseases and conditions ~ addiction, epilepsy, diabetes, cancer, mental illness, etc. and on and on ~ burdened by the attitudes of stigma. Recovering from or living with any chronic condition is enough of a challenge in and of itself. Especially if it is very fragile and difficult to manage while trying to enjoy an interesting and rewarding life at the same time.
The attitudes of stigma are like the crusted leaves, fine dirt, crumpled bits of paper and even dry discarded flower petals nestled on my patio. These attitudes, much like my patio debris, have come from somewhere, piling up in corners and crevices to be ignored until a broom comes along and sweeps it all up. But is stigma that neat? Can we just sweep stigma up and toss it in the garbage heap, in the compost or under the hedge? I don’t think so.
Stigma resides in the cracks and crevices of our minds and heart. Where has it come from? Our own experiences with watching someone live with chronic disease? From the sometimes dubious lessons learned on the playground without challenge by any other knowledge? From gossip and conjecture in ordinary conversation? Certainly from many more people, places and situations I can suggest here. No, banishing such long held beliefs and attitudes is not as easy as sweeping a patio. Recognition of the attitude of stigma and deciding if there is any value to nurturing it any longer begins this very personal journey. With willingness of heart, changing even a long held attitude can be done.
“…the issue becomes not whether a person has experience
with a stigma of his own, because he has, but rather
how many varieties he has had his own experience with.”
~ Erving Goffman, Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity
