I found this Canadian video, along with an excellent discussion of how we need to start speaking openly about mental illness, on the Australian blog, 70 Plus and Still Kicking.
The video is called Removing the Stigma of Mental Illness and, although it was made in Canada, it works for all of us anywhere in the world. Please watch the video, and start talking about mental illness so that we can do our part in removing the stigma.
June posted some Australian mental health resources on her blog, and I will follow her example and give you a list of some for the U.S. (below).
Thanks to June, for starting the discussion and for inspiring this post.
Mental Health Education Resources:
Mental Health Information Network (includes a report on America's health care system for serious mental illness and a report card for the individual states)
Mental Health Today
National Alliance on Mental Illness
4 comments:
I have been saying this for a long time. If mental illness was regarded the same as diabetes, people would not consider it to be a stigma, just a fact. Some of the weirdness toward it might come out of our religious background where it was supposed to be the devil possessing someone. You'd think, with all the scientific knowledge we have, that we'd be past that, wouldn't you!
I agree with Rain -- you would think we would be long past such primitive thinking regarding mental illness and I agree, too, that I think there's a lot of religious imprint on our attitudes toward people with mental problems. I suspect there are more than we realize that don't receive any kind of treatment or attention. Good post and thanks for the info.
Dear Clairz
Thanks for your comment and the chance to read the story on http://zeesgowest.blogspot.com/2008/09/what-happened-next.html.
I read it very late last night and I'm afraid that when I went to bed I tossed and turned for an hour or two as a result.
Life is so unfair for sufferers - so blameless and yet so blamed.
Thanks for being an understanding family member.
We can but encourage people to learn and empathise about mental illness in its many forms.
I will leave a comment on that blog too.
Regards
June in Oz
Clairz it's me again - June
Just read your blog post on mental illness and the kind comments about 70 Plus and Still Kicking.
Thank you! Hope lots of people get talking eh?
Well done Rain and Sylvia K.
Let's keep the ball rolling ...
Post a Comment