(originally posted January 28, 2015)
Today is #BellLetsTalk day, where for every text, tweet, repost of specific materials, etc. made, Bell Canada will donate five cents towards mental health initiatives.
So, let’s talk.
Let’s talk about how difficult it can be to live with both a mental illness, and the stigma attached.
I’ve been living with a mental illness for over half my life. Some days I do better than others. It sucks. Taking medication with really unpleasant side effects sucks. Having to monitor my mood on a daily basis sucks. Waking up with panic attacks at 3 or 4 am sucks.
You know what sucks even more? Being labelled “crazy”. Not having my thoughts and opinions and concerns taken as seriously as those of others simply because I have a mental illness and they do not. Being told to “suck it up” when I know if my leg was broken I would not have received the same response. Awkwardly laughing when someone I once respected jokes, “they didn’t have anti-depressants in my day, they had ‘get your shit together or get out’ and we turned out just fine”.
Sometimes I wish that when I was going through an episode I developed a serious rash, or a case of hives, or something. Any physical symptom would do – just something that would be respected as a legitimate medical concern, rather than something that I could “just get over if [I] tried hard enough”.
A huge part of me hopes that the stigma associated with mental illness is just because people don’t know any better. That if enough people knew that mental illness doesn’t mean the same thing as laziness (for example), maybe, just maybe, the stigma would go away. (I’m aware this is horribly optimistic, by the way, but I rarely display optimism, so please give me this one.)
So, as I said, let’s talk.
I know it can be difficult to start the conversation. And sometimes you worry that you won’t be taken seriously, or you’ll be put down, or you’ll be told to suck it up. That’s why I haven’t said nearly as much as I wish I had the nerve to say. Let’s change that together. If you feel comfortable, send me an ask and tell me your story – educate me. If you feel extra comfy, post it as a comment, or let me know it’s okay with you and I’ll reblog your “ask”. Together we can educate others. (I will NOT reblog any “asks” unless you expressly say “you can reblog this”. Promise).
#BellLetsTalk day does have its share of problems. For starters, it does bother me that I myself needed a corporate backed hashtag before I felt comfortable posting this. Still, though, I firmly believe that one way we can remove the stigma associated with mental illness is by talking about it and by educating others. And maybe one day we won’t need a sponsored hashtag to do it.