Special Online Event // Breaking the stigma of mental illness// Thurs 18 Oct, 9 30pm

wow very interesting @s-jay, @cameron

Is stigma a learned condition because it seems to be absent in young children who happily play with others whom adults may well prefer to shun?

I’m going to mention this a lot from now on because this is the only way people can often get past their own guilt...

“Stigma begins with a choice that isn’t your fault. It continues with a choice that is.”

And that’s it.

I’ve found that when people are shown their negative behaviour in a punitive way they tend to dig their heels in and make the whole experience a battle. So hopefully this can alleviate it.

@Hope4me Thank you 🙂

Wow, well I can't beleive it's been an hour already!

Thanks everyone for such a fascinating conversation. We think documentaries like How ‘Mad’ Are You open up important public discussion around mental illness, stereotypes and stigma. So as we wrap it up, as a farewell statement tell us what is one thing you can do to increase awareness, reduce stigma, encourage people to seek help, or reinforce hope?”

@Sophia1 Thank you so much. That means a lot.

Treat everyone as equal @s-jay as we never know what they are dealing with or what 'battles' they have had to go through to get where they are now.

What is the one thing you can do to increase awareness, reduce stigma, encourage people to seek help, or reinforce hope?

Awareness: Paint a picture, get a tattoo, write a joke, tell a story, design a game. We have an entire planet of infrastructure to share how we see the world for every second of the day. Get out there and make it. One day, your vision of the world might just stick and everyone will learn from it.

Reduce Stigma: Make people feel at ease. Remember when you were given your diagnosis, you might have been raised with just as much stigma around it. Look at how different the reality is and show people the difference from their perspective.

Seek help: If you are worried about seeking help for yourself, or feel that you can’t, or that you don’t deserve it. Don’t just think about it for you. From day one, your recovery might just find out that one piece of information that could help someone else’s life recover.

Reinforce hope: As you recover, the most amazing thing you can realise is that you won’t be going back to how you were. I don’t mean the good parts will be gone, but it will help the bad parts to heal.