Hey, you know what, why don't YOU stop trying to lecture me about how to deal with a condition I've suffered with since I was a kid? The last time I checked, I hadn't been elected the NAMI spokesperson.

Do you really think I'm that clueless about the stereotypes of mental illness? Really? Guess what, I'm not. I've been dealing with the stereotypes all my life. I got to come back to school in my junior year of high school after spending six weeks in a mental institution, with everyone knowing where I'd been. In the 80s. When I was already the class freak.

I apologized for offending you and if you don't want to accept that, that's fine. But I won't be condescended to and lectured in an attempt to educate me about something I've lived with all my life.

For future reference, I will also continue to make jokes about obesity, epilepsy, diabetes, and being molested as a child. This is how I deal. You don't get to tell me I can't.