We must break the silence on mental health stigmas
Geelong Advertiser - May 06, 2015
MENTAL health and stigma seem to go hand in hand.
No one likes to talk about mental health. We like to avoid it. We don’t know what to say or how to act, which leads to marginalisation, lack of support, negative stereotypes and misunderstanding of people with mental illness.
Australian’s national youth mental health foundation, Headspace, reports that approximately one in four young Australians face a mental health issue each year, with 75 per cent of adult mental health conditions emerging before the age of 25.
I never thought too deeply about the impacts and everyday struggles of mental health until last year, when a very close friend of mine was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
We must break silence on mental health stigmas Talia Rinaldo.
As a male in his mid-twenties in today’s society, he finds it is not the illness that makes it hard, but the stigma. It is the negative opinions, the hurtful representations and the feelings of shame.
Too often, people choose to label anyone experiencing a mood swing as “bipolar”. Someone who is down about having one bad day is labelled “depressed”. People are labelled as “crazy” simply because they are doing something different. And anyone who likes to keep the house clean is automatically “OCD”.
These words are thrown around without a second thought, and that leads to stigma. Actual mental health disorders are used to label certain negative or disagreeable traits of a person. They are used as adjectives. And because of this, my friend believes this is how people will see him.
Unfortunately, these prejudices seemed to remain unchallenged.
To him, the idea of telling people felt like a bigger risk because he feared having people treat him differently and labelling him.
I can assure you, he is not alone.
According to WA’s Mental Health Commission, three out of four people with a mental illness report they have experienced stigma. These results also coincide with high suicide rates in early to mid-adulthood, which are related to untreated mental health problems experienced in the late teenage and early adult years – proving just how important it is to seek help early and break free of the stigma.
Everyone has a role in helping support recovery of those affected by mental health. Public figures are showing their support by giving them a voice through their own experiences. Catherine Zeta Jones has spoken out about her bipolar disorder, Brooke Shields discussed her post-partum depression, and just recently, a post to Facebook by Geelong Football Club’s Mitch Clark received a lot of attention.
He described depression to help others realise they were not alone and it was OK to talk to someone.
Clark wrote in part: “People think depression is sadness. People think depression is crying. People think depression is dressing in black. But people are wrong. Depression is the constant feeling of being numb. Being numb to emotions, being numb to life. You wake up in the morning just to go back to bed again. Days aren’t really days, they are just annoying obstacles that need to be faced.”
His post was a way to break the stigma associated with depression and mental illness. And with 37,176 Facebook likes and 1343 comments, his post reached a lot of people.
Mental health is complex, intricate and difficult to understand. And by no means should we try to romanticise it. Mental illness is a terrible thing.
Watching the confidence of someone you love wear away day by day due to this stigma was hard, but it helped me realise that there is more we could all be doing to break the silence.
Talk to someone with experiences of mental illness. Speak out against false beliefs and negative stereotypes. Treat people with respect and help them find the support they need. Mental illness is not a description of a person; it is only a part of them. It does not define someone. The sooner people understand this, the better off everyone will be.