Sergei Stroitelev

Photographer

stroitelev.visura.co

Stigma

The Russian Ministry of Health estimates that there are 5.6 million registered people with mental disorders in Russia. The vast majority of people in Russia think if you have bipolar disorder or depression, it means that a person is lazy and have thought up symptoms in order to attract attention. People with mental issues are fired from their jobs, bullied at school, they are being stigmatized on the daily basis.

Within the framework of Stigma project people with mental issues sit for a portrait and share their experience of discrimination on the basis on their diagnosis thus raising awareness about the issue.

A mask made by one of the chara...als - hypomania and depression.

A mask made by one of the characters of the story Tasya. It symbolizes bipolar disorder - during which the patient has two different phases, replacing each other at different intervals - hypomania and depression.

Gera: "The teachers at...ngers on the subway."

Gera: "The teachers at school said that I was paranoid because I constantly complained about problems with classmates who bullied me.
After school I was not taken anywhere in connection with the diagnosis. The dream of becoming a meteorologist turned out to be unrealizable. I had to go to a paid vocational school in Barnaul to study for a carpenter.
I really wanted to do something to live happily and work. My uncle took me to Moscow for an additional examination, we tried to challenge the diagnosis. But schizophrenia was confirmed again, and emotional-volitional disorder was also diagnosed.
Now I am studying for a sales manager at a technical school for the disabled. I feel the hostility of the world around me. It manifests itself in different ways, ranging from countless papers that define my life ending with thrusts of strangers on the subway."

Polina: "I haven't done self-harm for a year and decided to apply for a paramedic course for the third time. Then I needed a certificate from the narcology service. I thought there would be no problems. I have never been registered there and I have never had such problems before. They accepted me from the doorway with the words - "girl, I just won't give you a certificate, just look at yourself, you still need to pass urine." Well, OK. Then they took me to another room, asked me to undress to my bare feet and started looking for needle marks, then they asked - "Be honest, did you take heroine today, did you burn out the injections marks or something?" I said they were scars from bad times as I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, so these were not burns. I stood naked in the middle of the room. The doctor shook her head - “I won’t give you a certificate, paramedic is too stressful job for you!”"

Self-harm marks on Polina's hand which remind burns.

Vasya: "My parents wan...d with shizophrenia."

Vasya: "My parents wanted to see an ideal son in their understanding - courageous and strong. They wanted me to box. But I was pretty weak and was interested in music. I was bullied a lot at school. All this led to severe depression and the first suicidal attempts. My parents did not want to hear about psychological problems, and in any case called an ambulance, which took me to a psychiatric hospital. I was there 4 times. Doctors pumped me up with tranquilizers, without making a diagnosis. In the hospitals I was once again convinced of my otherness.
I have not been communicating with my parents for 3 years, I try to protect myself from toxicity. In my circle of communication now understanding and creative people. My wife also has a diagnosis and we go through difficult moments together. I also regularly go to the psychiatrist and have been officially diagnosed with shizophrenia."

Sofia: "Relatives do n...red me very strange."

Sofia: "Relatives do not quite understand my visits to the doctor, they do not understand how I can’t control myself. The attitude of the people around is sometimes amazing. Some friends may say - "pull yourself together and do not worry", "take a pill", "your psychologist is not helping you." At a party I wore a mask, not because of a covid, but to create a barrier between me and a mass of people, I just had an aggravation then. People started laughing, maybe kindly, but still it was uncomfortable. At some point, I just stopped sharing that I have borderline personality disorder.
Due to the diagnosis, I had to change my job. I was fired. Of course, the reason was not given to me. Director just told me that the most part of the colleagues considered me very strange."

Alex: "Problems starte...o call me hysterical."

Alex: "Problems started at school. I have always been an excellent student, but due to mental problems I had to skip school. On the background of derealization, academic performance declined. I was stupidly confusing the numbers that floated before my eyes. The teachers did not allow anyone to rewrite tests, only me, realizing that I knew everything. However classroom teacher was different. When she found out that I had panic attacks, she started calling us at home and holding conversations with my mother, saying, I just did not want to study, that I was a manipulative teenager who just wanted to attract attention. She tried to project her ideas about the worst teenagers on me. Next, she decided to involve social services. Her thoughts were picked up by my classmates, who began to call me hysterical."

Kseniya: "My diagnosis...rt of my personality."

Kseniya: "My diagnosis caused a very painful breakup with my partner. We've been together for 5 years. I immediately told him everything about my bipolar disorder - I gave him all sorts of books to read. At first everything was fine, but over time I saw that during a period of depression, a person does not want to be with me. He began to go to his parents and returned when depression gave way to mania. Then he told me - I don't love you when you are depressed. And little by little he began to take out his things from our shared apartment. It's hard - you are hoping for something, making plans, it's a pity that not everyone understands that the psyche is not a toy and disorders are not cured by magic. In fact, it is a part of my personality."

Tasya: "I could not gi...are no such articles."

Tasya: "I could not give up my office work and decided to go to a day hospital. I told my chief about bipolar disorder and my treatment, they said I should take a vacation. It was difficult to combine work and treatment since the responsibility for the work did not allow to relax. I had complete burnout, but I tried to work even while lying down in the hospital. A month passed, but the treatment did not help me much, I realized that I could not get it out, I decided to leave on my own. The chief said - "improve your health and come back to us, we are waiting for you." I came to the same office some time later, but they told me that there were "some" reasons why we would not take you back. It was a shame, I got used to this work and hoped for a different outcome. Probably no one needs a person who can burn out. Pure capitalism - it is not profitable to take such a person. Everything with us is bad with laws in this regard. In the West, you can sue them, in Russia there are no such articles."

According to UN statistics, Rus...g pushes a person to this step.

According to UN statistics, Russia is one of the three countries with the highest suicide rate in the world and is the leader in the number of male suicides. Sometimes stigmatization and misunderstanding pushes a person to this step.

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Stigma

Copyright Sergei Stroitelev 2025

Updated Jul 2022

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