Navigating Stigma: Confrontation, Doubt, and Acceptance
This week’s posts focused on confrontation of stigma in friends and partners. That’s initially who this post’s intended audience was to be. Upon further reflection, the phases outlined here are just as applicable to those working through stigma post-diagnosis.
What this graphic does not show are the “bad” days, the days of doubt, the days where stigma creeps in, or the days when it takes over—whether you’re a friend, partner, or someone working through a diagnosis.
What I want to highlight and leave you with this weekend is the last point: acceptance and continued unlearning. It’s a lifelong process. Our internalized experience of stigma gets easier as time goes on (especially with education), but it is impossible for its complete removal in a society that functions off systems of othering and prejudice.