Traumatic Brain Injury and Societal Stigmatization Part 1
Posted by Second Chance to Live on September 28, 2011
Hello and welcome back to Second Chance to Live my friend. In the past several days, I have been thinking about the topic of societal stigmatization. Societal stigmatization and discrimination can occur in many ways and appear in different forms. In effect, societal stigmatization undermines by minimizing, marginalizing and manipulating the individual into believing that who they are and what they have to give is of little or no value. Such messages dismiss and discount. A little under a year ago I wrote an 7 part article series surrounding the impact of societal stigmatization Living with a brain injury and being Misunderstood, Maligned and Manipulated.
During much of my life time I found myself experiencing the impact and effects of societal stigmatization while living with a brain injury and an invisible disability. Among my experience, I found myself being misunderstood, maligned, scoffed at, excluded, shunned, snubbed, reviled, ostracized, minimized, marginalized, dismissed, discounted, hindered, blackballed, scorned, spurned, disparaged, chastised, reprimanded, berated, criticized, threatened, reproached, denigrated, rejected and abandoned both personally and professionally. In the process, I bought into the belief system that conveyed to me that I didn’t just make mistakes, but that I was a mistake.
Consequently – and because of my experience and ongoing reinforcement – I bought into the notion that who I was as an individual was of little worth and value as a human being. But I am so glad that I reached a place in my life where I began to realize that what I had been experiencing was based on ignorance. In my experience, I began to realize that there were matters out of my control and that I needed to make peace with those matters. In my experience, I found that I needed to begin to accept my reality – as a person living with a brain injury and an invisible disability – regardless of whether anyone else could accept or understand the impact of my reality.
To read Part 2 of this article please click here.
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This entry was posted on September 28, 2011 at 3:41 pm and is filed under acquired brain injury and feeling alienated, adult children of alcoholics and traumatic brain injuries, Adult Children of Alcoholics living with traumatic / acquired brain injuries, Caregivers for people with traumatic / acquired brain injuries, combating brain injury isolation, Identified Patient, learning disabilities, Living with a Invisible Disability and feeling shame, living with a traumatic / acquired brain injury, Living with a traumatic brain injury and feeling shame, Living with an Invisible Disability, messages of hope and inspiration, Parents of children with Acquired brain injuries, Post Traumatic Syndrome and Suicide, Revealing your Destiny, Self-Respect and Significance, Soldiers and Marines who sustained traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injury, stroke, Suicide and Hope, tbi adults, tbi children, tbi families, tbi veterans, traumatic brain injury and frustration, Traumatic Brain Injury and Hope, Traumatic Brain Injury and Significance, Traumatic Brain Injury and What is my Destiny?, traumatic brain Injury in adults, Traumatic Brain Injury in children, Traumatic Brain Injury Self-Esteem and Self-Worth, Traumatic Brain Injury Support Groups / Meetings, Veterans Living with Brain Injuries, What is my Destiny?. Tagged: Combating feelings or Isolation, excelling beyond stereotypes, overcoming discrimination, Overcoming Societal Stigmatization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
