Mental health and stigma

Posted on by wookeysworld

Hi lovely people.

Today is ‘Time to talk day 2017’ and so I wanted to do write a post about mental health problems and the stigma surrounding them.

Here are some stats on mental health:

  • 1 in 4 people in the uk will experience mental health problem each year,
  • 17% of people experience suicidal thoughts at some point in their lifetime
  • 90 % of people with mental health problems experience some form of stigma (from family, friends, colleagues or some other source).

Without going into too much detail; in 2015 and 2016 my mental health got really bad. I was experiencing crippling anxiety which lead me to a very depressed and dark place,(i don’t want to go into detail on how bad things got but they got pretty bad). It is without doubt the hardest thing I’ve ever dealt with.

I was very lucky to be surrounded by very supportive and loving people to help me through it, though at the time I could not see this. I have had some unkind comments aimed at me from complete strangers and so often I hear people referring to people with mental health issues as; selfish, attention-seeking, ungrateful, crazy, rude, weird and many other adjectives a long these lines. This upsets and infuriates me as this is so far from the truth.

People with mental health issues are just people; people who fight a tough battle (often against themselves), in their every day life and who definitely could do without the negativity and stigma.

Please think before judging people, you never know what they are going through beneath the surface.

If you are dealing with mental health problems of anykind; You are amazing ,worthwhile and so much stronger than you realise. Keep going, I believe in you.

Please feel free to comment and start a conversation.

Lots of love,glitter and happy thoughts. Beth xoxoFB_IMG_1486030086774.jpg

 

 

7 thoughts on “Mental health and stigma”

  1. The stigma of mental illness is so strong, especially in the area I live in. It amazes me how people have no concerns with discussing their cardiac issues or diagnosis of diabetes, but absolutely refuse to acknowledge their mental and emotional well-being. It is no different. The mind is just as important as the heart, the lungs, the eyes, etc. An illness of the brain should be just as readily discussed as any other.

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    1. I agree completely. It’s socially acceptable for people to talk about physical health problems but as soon as somebody speaks about their mental health they are seen to be ‘attention seeking’ or ‘complaining’. People wouldn’t say “just get up and walk” if someone had a physical disability, yet think it’s ok to tell people with depression to “just be happy”.

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  4. Great post, I’m glad I found your blog. It’s definitely time to bring more attention to mental illness and the stigma attached to it. That is one of the reasons for starting my own blog. We need more people to speak up and share their stories so that it becomes a more comfortable conversation… like you said, people have no trouble talking about physical illness. I’m hoping for a change too ❤

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