Dr. Pat Deegan Shares Her Success Story and The Coping Skills She Uses. She has a PHD, and Schizophrenia

I wanted to share this video of Dr. Pat Deegan, it is a rare find. She has a PHD, and schizophrenia- proving that mental illness does not have to be a death sentence.

In this video, she talks a lot about how she made herself successful and the coping skills she used. She took one class at a time. She tape recorded her classes. These are adaptations that she figured out herself.

Although she is a highly intelligent and successful person, she is not entirely recovered. But, she quickly points out that everybody struggles and life is hard!

I think that key to her success is self acceptance. She does the best she can, with what she has. She even goes as far as to say that her trauma history has helped to give her compassion for the world. In other words, it has in some ways helped her to become the person she is now.

Pat also talks about stigma. In school, she was afraid to tell anyone about her mental illness. You might notice that at this time, my blog profile shows that I am just Amy. Fear of stigma prevents me from telling you any more.

Pat's mental illness was and still is real. She admits to having 9 hospitalizations, although her last one was 12 years ago. She says, "I still hear voices".