Telling is Risky Business: Mental Health Consumers Confront Stigma [Paperback]

Otto F. Wahl (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0813527244 | ISBN-13: 978-0813527246 | Publication Date: October 1, 1999 | Edition: 1

Individuals with mental illnesses--such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression--have a double burden, Otto Wahl writes. Not only must they cope with disabling disorders, but they also must contend with the negative attitudes of the public toward those disorders. To truly understand the full extent of this stigma, we need to hear from the consumers (the term used in this book for people with mental illnesses) themselves. Telling Is Risky Business is the first book to examine what these people have to say about their own experiences of stigma. The center of Wahl's research was a nationwide survey in which mental health consumers across the United States were asked, both through questionnaires and interviews, to tell about their experiences of stigma and discrimination. The research comes to life as many of the over 1,300 respondents offer perceptive observations, in their own words, of how our society treats people with mental illness. As Laura Lee Hall, director of research, NAMI, writes in the Foreword, "[This book] presents the voices of people who have mounted the struggle and hopefully will lead you to the belief that we cannot as a people tolerate further cruelty and discrimination against these, our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, neighbors, and fellow citizens."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Dr. Wahl's book gives those who suffer from mental illnesses an eloquent voice. Through their own words, consumers allow us a glimpse of life as they know it, struggling to overcome devastating diseases while withstanding the misconceptions, isolation, and discrimination-the stigma- that society imposes upon them." -- Rosalynn Carter, former First Lady and Head of the Carter Center Mental Health Program

"These revelations by psychiatric survivors should shatter stereotypes forever, Otto Wahl's book is must-reading for policy makers, media professionals, and all informed Americans." -- Jean Arnold, National Stigma Clearinghouse

From the Back Cover

Individuals with mental illnesses- such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression-have a double burden, Otto Wahl writes. Not only must they cope with disabling disorders, but they also must contend with the negative attitudes of the public toward those disorders. To truly understand the full extent of this stigma, we need to hear from the consumers (the term used in this book for people with mental illnesses) themselves. Telling Is Risky Business is the first book to examine what these people have to say about their own experiences of stigma.

The center of Wahl's research was a nationwide survey in which mental health consumers across the United States were asked, both through questionnaires and comes to life as many of the over 1300 respondents offer perceptive observations, in their own words, of how our society treats people with mental illness. As Laura Lee Hall, director of research, NAMI, writes in the Foreword. "[This book] presents the voices of people who have mounted the struggle and hopefully will lead you to the belief that we cannot as a people tolerate further cruelty and discrimination against these, our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, neighbors, and fellow citizens."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 258 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press; 1 edition (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813527244
• ISBN-13: 978-0813527246
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #870,241 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Reality of Most Living with Mental Illness, July 19, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Telling is Risky Business: Mental Health Consumers Confront Stigma (Paperback)

If you have battled clinical depression or any other mental illness Otto Wahl's "Telling is Risky Buisness" will hit home in a painful way. Wahl reveals what most sufferers experience, the tension between fighting a terrifying illness while maintaining your integrity to non sufferers who fail to understand.
An important book.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Telling is a Risking Business, but a Morally and Proper Business, February 28, 2007

By 

Jimmy Stevenson - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Telling is Risky Business: Mental Health Consumers Confront Stigma (Paperback)

Five stars, way up to the sky!

What a wonderful book. My angel bought this book for me a couple of weeks ago and we both thought it was great. I have bipolar with psychotic features (Bipolar I) and indeed there is a great stigma in our society about mental illness and particularly with the psychotic based mental illnesses (paranoid schizophrenia, bipolar I, psychotic depression and post-partum psychosis - a total of 8 million US people).

This book was a bright spot for me because it has been a great struggle for me to talk about it publicly, but I know deep down it is a just and proper struggle and I must do it. The book discusses others' struggles which are similar to mine. The more of us who can talk about it and do talk about it, then the better it will be for us and society in the future.

But for us, freedom of speech ain't free. Just since I started talking publicly around 6 months ago, I have had to up my daily lithium dose from 600mg to 900mg (to keep my mania under control), and my Zyprexa from 5mg to 10mg (to keep my psychotic symptoms at bay), and have had to add Ambien, a sleep aid so that I am able to get plenty of sleep. With these proactive measures I have been able to talk openly about it, including other posts here.

Because of the stigma that this book so eloquently discusses, I did not go in to get help for a long, long time. I had eleven manic/psychotic episodes over a 24 year period before I asked for help. Then I got this diagnosis and the proper medication and counseling to combat it. I'm not cured, there is no cure for this stuff yet, but I have the best treatments available. I have learned all I can about this illness and it is better now and I can accept it for what it is. It is caused because my brain is not able to properly regulate adrenalin, dopamine and serotonin levels on its own. The medications bring my levels back into the norms of sanity.

Like others in the book, I have looked at this illness and have taught myself not to fear it. And to not look at it as a weakness. No fear, no weakness. I can accept the years and years of what was my unknown tormenter and predator. I have learned to deal with the accompanying horrific memories and the PTSD and accept it.

And as I look around my room and notice the red monster on a horse in one corner and the dark rabbit monster in the other corner, they no longer scare me. But I respect them, for I have them in my Zyprexa freeze. Frozen, indefinitely. But they are real, for if I stop taking my Zyprexa, they thaw out after about 2 weeks and come back to life. I've learned that lesson. But now I know that I can control them, and not the other way around. And I have gotten myself well enough now so that I can tell others about them.

What are they? Are they demons... a bogie monster, perhaps? Phantoms? The grinch? I don't think so, because I can control them now. I think they are a cumulation of all of my deepest paranoid fears which flood over the damaged brick wall in my mind. And the subconscious thoughts spill over and flood my conscious mind with awaken nightmares. The meds repair this brick wall and shut off the voices and paranoid delusions.

The sooner we can make these illnesses mainstream, like the other severe chronic incurable illnesses (diabetes, paralysis, cancer, etc.), the better off humanity will be. Better for those of us with these illnesses and better for the rest of everyone else in society. This book makes great strides in this direction.

And I talk. Because when the doctor tells you, "since you did not get help and treatment when it first started, when you were 17 years old, now you are permanently disabled. Because with each severe manic/psychotic episode, you never come back to 100 percent. So now after 11 of them, you are running at 50 percent disabled and cannot work a job with others."

It is my hope that we can make it better, so that others don't travel the road I have traveled. This book helps that struggle. I urge others in my boat to follow in my footsteps. This book will help you do that.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Conflicted, July 6, 2009

By 

C. McLeod (SF Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Telling is Risky Business: Mental Health Consumers Confront Stigma (Kindle Edition)

I am conflicted about this book. I really do not like the term they use,
"Mental Health CONSUMERS." I think it gives the impression that we have a choice in the matter. No one chooses this life. this book is already about 11 years old, so I wonder about new information on the subject. This is however the only book available on the subject of mental illness stigma.