Welcome to Hack Your Way Well, this is where you can begin to understand some difficult parts of yourself, your personality, and your life and turn them into empowerment and courage. I want to guide you on a journey where you navigate shame to create empowerment by owning your story provides a unique ability to shine.
Today’s topic is about my journey with HIV/Aids and the difference between stigma and shame.
What are stigma and shame?
Very often stigma and shame are misunderstood and thought of as the same thing. They are not!
Stigma or more correctly, Social stigma is the disapproval of, or discrimination against, a person based on perceivable social characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of society. Social stigmas are commonly related to culture, gender, race, age, intelligence, and health so pretty much all of us can be affected by stigma.
Shame by definition is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion typically associated with a negative evaluation of the self; withdrawal motivations; and feelings of distress, exposure, mistrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Shame is crippling which keeps you from living the life you want to live. Constantly hiding from the world and the people you love.
I want to focus on shame today because it is the most destructive and keeps people from seeking the help they need.
I hope you find the content of my recent podcast helpful. Apply the concepts to your struggles and see how you can take control of your health outcome. You can get informed and seek help to navigate shame to create empowerment.
If this topic resonates with you and you’d like some support then let’s connect.
