When I speak to conference rooms full of people on the topic of mental health, the most common themes to pass over my lips are: self-compassion, mindfulness, and the importance of cultivating courage, kindness, and an open mind.  The most prominent concept I speak to is change. What journalists seem to be driven to write after hearing me speak is another story, one wracked with sensationalism, voyeurism, and an incredibly narrow view.  I have yet to read an article about me that does not reference in the title the infamous buzz words attached to my name: my diagnoses. 

A number of years back, I was diagnosed with schizophrenia, the worst of all of my psychiatric name-tags I’ve acquired over the course of my 20s.  I work at a university, I hold a Masters degree, I am a therapist, an artist, I have won awards for mental health advocacy, and…