““He’s already run the standard battery of questions, checked the check boxes, computed the data: hears voices = schizophrenic; too agitated = paranoid; too bright = manic; too moody = bipolar; and of course everyone knows a depressive, a suicidal, and if you’re all-around too unruly or obstructive or treatment resistant like a superbug, you get slapped with a personality disorder, too. In Crote Six, they said I “suffer” from schizoaffective disorder. That’s like the sampler plate of diagnoses, Best of Everything. But I don’t want to suffer. I want to live.””
![“Call someone 'a schizophrenic' or 'a borderline' [and it] lulls us into a false sense that those words tell us who the person is, rather than only telling us how the person suffers.” quote by Martha Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/7f8/martha-manning-19786_quote_call-someone-a-schizophrenic-or-a-border_1804723.jpg)
![“I won't say that writing tamed the Black Beast. It soothed him, though, enough so he agreed simply to occupy a corner of my mind...Gradually, I redirected my focus and skills towards causes much closer to my own heart: writing and mental health advocacy. [...] I felt so good at times that I even…” quote by Terri Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9a3/terri-cheney-27205_health_i-won-t-say-that-writing-tamed-the-black_3167266.jpg)
