I totally get what your saying Jaq. I’ve had similar experiences and the last face to face meeting I had with someone I was told I was an alcoholic and they couldn’t help me but I needed support from the alcohol and drug service. They couldn’t see that the drink was a coping mechanism for an underlying illness. Cock ends the lot of them. I still enjoy a drink but it has NEVER controlled me.
Anyway back to the point. After being told by many professionals that they couldn’t believe I was being overlooked for psychiatric care and having lost everything I ever held dear, I learned that the only way through this was to fight it myself. Yeah I make a lot of mistakes along the way but I try to learn from them and I never give up fighting. Yeah ok I may take a few days off once in a while but no one can say I don’t do all I can to beat this illness even without professional support. You don’t need someone with a badge of honour to get through this. What you need is the strength from within to stick two fingers up to all the people who’ve tried to drag you down or refused to help.