My Scarlet Letter

Most people are familiar with Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. A great deal of people have studied how Hitler's Germany branded Jews and other "undesirable races" with a patch or armband. The concept of 'marking' people who were considered undesirable is nothing new, in fact, most people think it's a quite antiquated concept. But it's not. It's alive and well in America, in YOUR city, today.

I wear a scarlet letter. Actually it's more of a purple smock type garment with three arm holes that neither fits nor flatters anyone. But it's my scarlet letter. Upon admission to the hospital, patients with psychiatric issues are not given the standard blue and green gown that ties in back and shows most of your backside if you're not careful. Patients with psychiatric issues are given The Purple Smock. It's bright purple. I mean, you can't miss it. It's one-size only, it hangs off just about anyone's shoulders, and it's nearly impossible to keep everything covered while wearing it. It's just a really rather unpleasant thing to have to wear.

But what's worse is that it brands you. Right now I'm in a mixed ward - patients with physical issues, but some of whom also have psychological issues. Because of the 'episode' I described in my previous post, I have been relegated to the group with psychological issues and branded with The Purple Smock.

When you're wearing The Purple Smock, people stare. Some people, family members or other patients don't really know what it means, but many do, and all the medical personnel do. Just like with Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, it immediately tells anyone who sees you that you are different - and not a good different. You are defective. You have done something or said something that earned you that detestable garment, You are the book, and you are very much being judged by your cover.

So, knowing upon sight that you are 'crazy' or 'SI' as they like to refer to us, people treat you differently. Again, you'd like to think that hospital employees are a little more professional than that, but they're not. They're human like everybody else and they know what The Purple Smock means. Suddenly every word out of your mouth is called into question, every action scrutinized. You have to try to decode if people are really taking you seriously, or if they're just nodding and smiling, all the while knowing you're crazy, and applying the stigma that is so often attached to that. This is hard enough for most people to do, but people with psychological illness struggle enough to decipher what is going on in most social situations. Psychological illness SUCKS. I'll flat out say it, it SUCKS. Being labeled and stigmatized, on top of psychological illness? That's just like kicking a person when they're down - and if you think it doesn't affect the treatment they receive, you are deluding yourselves. The Scarlet Letter, still exists - it's just a purple smock now... and I don't know about you, but I'm ready to take it off.

#SHATTER STIGMA