title: [To hide and to reveal - how to manage the stigma of mental illness].
abstract: The biography of a social-worker shows a positive development in her professional life in spite of several severe episodes of psychotic illness. The author knows her personally over three decades, partly as her psychiatrist. Whether to hide or reveal her psychotic illness as a stigma in professional life is discussed with her own examples. Her "management of the secret" is shown as a combination of hiding and revealing. A slow process of taking again the "risk of trust" with a few friends and within the therapeutic process helps her gain back selfconfidence and trust in others. This process is discussed with Luhmanns approach to trust and the current literature as a way to overcome the inner process of stigmatisation.
authors.affiliation: 0721694840-0001@t-online.de
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rave-Schwank
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D011287:Prejudice; D011613:Psychotherapy; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D012050:Rehabilitation, Vocational; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012752:Shame; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012947:Social Work; D035502:Trust