Coming Together To Advance Mental Health Support
Organizations are great and we need as many of them as possible to be supportive of mental health patients and their families. But we are missing something significant at the core of all mental health support: a national alliance on mental health. While our country remains divided over race, politics and world affairs, many people continue to suffer from mental health issues behind the scenes.
What we are missing in the world is a mental health movement that is truly reaching all corners of the globe and spreading support for mental illness. We are missing a movement that is advocating for the coming out of people with mental illness. What we currently have is the following, “Are you suffering from a mental illness? Then you should go see someone for it.”
Promoting psychological and psychiatric support is great and all people should be encouraged to seek care when feeling different from their baseline. But even with this encouragement in place, people are still hesitant to talk about their mental health issues. What does this tell you?
That there is still a stigma similar to how racism still exists in 2020. Why are people so shocked to hear about someone who is suffering from a mental disorder? Why is it so shocking that the human brain can malfunction just as any other organ can? It’s shocking because the human brain affects one’s personality, while other organs not so much.
Personality and human interactions is what most people base their opinions on. So if someone is depressed, anxious, on edge or psychotic, people assume that there is something wrong with that person and he or she must be “weird” or “different.” But these assumptions is what prevents us from moving forward with mental health recognition and support.
Who is ready to start a national alliance on mental health? Actually, who is ready to start an international alliance on mental health? A worldwide community that supports the advancement of mental health support and is not ashamed to discuss our problems, experiences and struggles with mental illness.
Are you Ready? (This is Defeating Stigma Mindfully)
DSM (Defeating Stigma Mindfully) 