Not another mental health awareness week?
Hello again,
So it’s another mental health awareness week this week. And I know that will lead to groans of ‘not another mental health awareness week!’ but it’s so much more important than ‘international donut day’ or ‘global take your tortoise to work week’ or whatever.
And yes, you could argue that we need to focus our energies on more funding for more and better mental health services. And I absolutely believe that to be true, too.
But there’s still a lot of mental health stigma crashing around the world like an increasingly unwelcome and highly destructive gatecrasher of life. And it’s important to note that stigma doesn’t just hurt people’s feelings a bit - stigma can kill.
A Lancet report from October 2022 stated that:
“…stigma and discrimination in mental health infringe basic human rights and have serious consequences that compound marginalisation and social exclusion.”
But while it’s clear that stigma can affect whether or not a person feels able to open up and ask for help, it can also influence whether or not those services exist in the first place.
Stigma absolutely plays a part in funding and commissioning. It plays a part in policies - internationally and nationally, as well as closer to home, for example, in your specific place of work.
I’ve seen mental health services struggle with petitions and community opposition when they’ve put in for planning permission, for example, as local residents fear that people who use such services may be ‘dangerous’ or ‘antisocial’.
Ironic, really, given that you could probably say the most dangerous and antisocial actions are the ones being taken by the community members who are trying to block access to care.
Stigma isn’t just some fluffy little cloud that follows people with mental health problems around, turning grey on occasion and slightly hurting their feelings. It has the power to upend lives and halt progress. It’s more like having to spend every day of your life dodging precarious fault lines that crack wider and get deeper as stigma takes ahold of every aspect of your life.
This is why we still need to acknowledge mental health awareness days. Although we should also know that not all people or organisations who use the hashtag are truly supporting of people with mental health problems. Sometimes people talk the talk. But when somebody’s mental health problem causes them disruption or embarrassment or simply becomes ‘annoying’ to them, we might find that the hashtag was an empty gesture to encourage social media engagement, or increase sales or recruit more staff.
So I don’t believe for a moment that every person using the hashtag this week is going to be *truly* supportive of those of us with mental health problems. But I *do* believe we need to keep fighting the fight.
The bookish bit (Don’t call me….Snowflake)
My book Snowflake is all about mental health stigma and the impact it can have. It features the voices of those who have been affected by stigma, as well as those who work in the mental health space - from mental health nurses and GPs, to psychiatrists, coaches and psychologists, and from historians and campaigners to musicians and authors.
It’s an easy read that you can dip in and out of, with chapters including:
Foreword (from the inspirational Sue Baker OBE)
Why Language Matters
Don’t Call Me…Attention Seeking
Don’t Call Me ... Snowflake
Don’t Call Me ... Miserable
5 Don’t Call Me ... Workshy
6 Don’t Call Me ... Psycho
7 Don’t Call Me ... Neurotic
8 Don’t Call Me ... Wino
9 Don’t Call Me ... Vain
10 Don’t Call Me ... Flawed
11 Don’t Call Me ... Bad
12 “Asylums”
For this week only, the e-book is on sale for just £1.99 so grab your copy now.
Thank you for reading. And please do share your comments and views on stigma.
Back soon
Lucy x