1/7/96

Baker University
9/15/14

Stigma: a mental or physical mark that is characteristic of a defect or disease (www.dictary.com). Or a mark or mental issue that sets you apart from others in society. No stigma is a fun thing to deal with but I believe that visible stigmas are a better thing to have, because some of them heal, and if even a certain visible stigma doesn’t heal people have already judged you when they see you so you have nothing to hide. And nonvisible stigmas can cause people to not participate in class, be afraid to try to make friends, and try so hard to hide it they may not even be acting like their true selves. There are two different types of stigmas. There is a visible stigma, which is mark, scare, or maybe even a deformity on the exterior of your body. Some visible stigmas heal, like smaller scares, red marks, and some cuts. So it may be embarrassing at the time but in time it will up, and you won’t have to deal with it anymore. Other things like deformities or any in normality can sometimes be covered up. But even if they can’t be covered up then people already see them so you may be embarrassed people have already judged you, so you can at least wear it with attitude. Then there are nonvisible stigmas. These are the stigmas that aren’t visible, such as ADD, dyslexia, autism, multi-personality disorder, and other learning disabilities or mental health issues. Yeah people may not be able to tell that you have a stigma when you’re walking down the street, but nonvisible stigmas are what cause some students to be scared to be their real selves in public, or scared to participate in class, or even be scared to try and make friends because they are scared to be judged. Nonvisible stigmas also are worse to love with because none of them heal, so people that have them have to live with them for their whole lives. Also many people with nonvisible stigmas have to take medicine everyday of their lives to reduce their symptoms so they “fit into society better”, and aren’t judged. As a person with both visible stigmas such as multiple scares, ache, cauliflower ear, and nonvisible stigmas such as ADD, and dyslexia I can say first had that non visible stigmas are much more difficult to live with. This is because they are way less common, and in my case my visible stigmas were not hard to adopt into my daily routine. Yeah people ask me about my scares and it’s annoying, and yes having ache is embarrassing, but almost every teenager has it so it’s really not a big deal. However living with ADD really honestly sucks. I wake up every day and before I brush my teeth I take medicine, and then I take more at least once if not twice again that same day, and I have to constantly check myself to make sure I’m paying attention and taking good notes. But having dyslexia is much worse in my opinion, because it just makes life much harder. I can’t even begin to tell you how many girls’ numbers I have messed up and not been able to contact. I am honestly terrified to read in front of people, because I read so much slower while mixing up word after word. Not to mention the bead of sweat that rolls down my forehead when I open a math book just wishing one time I wouldn’t mix up any numbers or variables on one math assignment. But having multiple stigmas makes me quick to defend other when they are being ridiculed for the stigmas they have. Sophomore year my catholic friend Lily Johnson wore her ashes to school (because you’re supposed to wear them all day on Ash Wednesday). Then during 6th hour English II my other friend Michael started making fun of her saying she looked “stupid”. Honestly this made me pretty mad, because she can’t help that its part of her religion to have ashes on her forehead on a certain Wednesday during the year! Also I was upset because she can’t help that her parents raised her catholic. So she doesn’t deserve to be made fun of. So I told Michael that is anything, or anybody was stupid it was him for making fun of somebody for their religion! And he actually stopped, then Lily thanked me. The presence stigmas have an impact on the person who possess the sigma and the people surrounding that person’s life. Having any type of stigma isn’t an easy thing, but nonvisible stigmas are a harder thing to adapt to in life. Nonvisible stigmas may cause people to not participate in class, too afraid to make friends, and possibly not act like themselves under the public eye.
References
stigma. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Science Dictionary. Retrieved September 15, 2014, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stigma