title: Self-stigma: A personal journey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This contribution describes a personal recovery journey and highlights the value and importance of engagement in peer-to-peer services to help promote growth and transformation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In this contribution, the author emphasizes the significance of educating and supporting others to overcome the barriers of self-stigma to gain both a positive self-image and self-esteem.
  
  
  METHODS
  Personal life experiences are shared and resource information is provided as a guide for readers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Encouraging individuals with a lived experience of mental illness to tell their stories is a way of educating people about mental illness and reducing stigma.
authors.affiliation: Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center.
authors.forename: Awilda Correa
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Lipfird
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D065026:Hope; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010379:Peer Group; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D012649:Self Concept; D012657:Self-Help Groups; D057545:Social Stigma; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*