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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that there should be as much concern for people with m/illness

29 replies

CamboricumMinor · 05/03/2016 18:19

as there is for people who are transgender/gay/lesbian/whatever?

It seems to me that the bandwagon of support for the LBGT community is a popular one to jump on at the moment whereas people with mental illness are still seen as a taboo subject.

dons flameproof suit

OP posts:
Original poster
CamboricumMinor · 05/03/2016 18:20

and yes, I am writing this as a person who has a DH with mental illness but struggles to get much support at all.

OP posts:
FigMango1 · 05/03/2016 18:21

What is the relation between the two Confused
Do you think mh and lgtb are illnesses and one is given more attention over the other??

Original poster
CamboricumMinor · 05/03/2016 18:23

Both are issues which are deserving of attention but people with mental illness seem to be ignored whereas a popular cause seems to be LBGT issues at the moment; I see it all over FB at the moment for example (and other places online) but it's still ok to ignore mental heath issues.

OP posts:
MrsNoraCharles · 05/03/2016 18:28

The lack of support and investment in decent healthcare for mental distress and illness is appalling. I know that living with, or caring for someone with mental health problems can be soul-destroying, so Flowers for you.

I still can't understand your comparison with LGBT issues though.

Busybuzzybumblebee · 05/03/2016 18:31

I think there is a lot of awareness for mental illness. However it shouldn't be a competition between the two, lgbt awareness is as equally important.

Do you do anything to raise awareness for mental illness other than to start a thread about it?

StealthPolarBear · 05/03/2016 18:32

Well young people who are lgbt are more likely to suffer from mental illness so I see the two should be considered together

yorkshapudding · 05/03/2016 18:34

One of the arguments for increasing support for LGBT causes is a growing awareness that there is a much higher than average incidence of mental health issues within the LGBT population.

Original poster
CamboricumMinor · 05/03/2016 18:35

Busybuzzy apart from supporting my DH, no.

OP posts:
sugar21 · 05/03/2016 18:35

I am currently getting help with my MH issues with counselling ad's and weekly GP appointments. Nothing to do with LGBT and everything to do with my dd died

StealthPolarBear · 05/03/2016 18:49

Point taken sugar, and lots of love x

Katenka · 05/03/2016 19:20

This is a discussion that is happening at dds school.

There are now 6 'safe LGBT zones' at school. All manned at breaks and lunch by staff from the LGBT community. So kids that are struggling with these issues have somewhere to go to talk about their issues. That's great.

However there is no provision at all for kids suffering with MH issues to have a safe place to talk. Nor is there a safe zone for someone to talk about being sexually assaulted or abused.

The school are saying they can't provide it all, but it seems very heavily weighted towards LGBT, rather than spreading the resources.

StealthPolarBear · 05/03/2016 19:21

Bloody hell that must be a big school!

TealLove · 05/03/2016 19:23

I agree op

Littleallovertheshop · 05/03/2016 19:24

Right, what?

Katenka · 05/03/2016 19:24

2600 pupils stealth

MumOnTheRunCatchingUp · 05/03/2016 19:26

That school sounds great!

Katenka · 05/03/2016 19:31

mum it is a great school, in general. However dds friend was sexually assaulted by an older pupil. It came out after she had a melt down.

I think the provision needs to be shared.

StealthPolarBear · 05/03/2016 19:34

Yes agree

Original poster
CamboricumMinor · 05/03/2016 20:25

Katenka, it's great that the school have LGBT provision but I agree that it needs to be shared so pupils with m/h issues have support; sadly I think it's all too common in schools with the pressure on high school children these days :(

OP posts:
NotMeNotYouNotAnyone · 05/03/2016 21:35

As someone who's suffered with anxiety and depression for most of my life AND is gay, I don't know why you picked these particular issues to compare. It's like threads comparing mental health to cancer. It just doesn't make sense.

stumblymonkey · 05/03/2016 21:47

I have bipolar disorder and am quite heavily involved in this sort of topic....

I guess I feel very strongly that if we want things to change we, those that suffer and those that support people who suffer, have to speak up.

Are there opportunities for you and your DH (when he feels up to it) to speak up about MH issues?

I helped organise an event at work on Thurs where we had a panel of five people (I was one) talk about their MH experiences to a group of 50-60 colleagues.

I'm also involved in a new campaign that we are organising in the City to get 60 companies together (big banks, investment houses, insurers, consultants, lawyers) to do a big campaign this year to encourage people to speak out about MH issues in the workplace.

There's no competition with LGBT however, in a way their 'journey' has paved the path for us to also be accepted for who we are. There are a lot of similarities to be drawn between 'coming out' as LGBT and 'coming out' as having a mental illness.

stumblymonkey · 05/03/2016 21:50

In fact the panel on Thurs was a joint one about MH and LGBT as people who are LGBT are 1.5 times more likely to have MH issues (presumably due to the pressure of at points having to hide who they really are or dealing with stigma).

The LGBT panellists all had MH issues and said that they saw a lot of parallels but (personally) had found it much harder to come out as having a mental illness than being gay.

Solobo · 05/03/2016 22:10

In all my adult life I have never seen so much hatred towards transgendered people. Transgender people off in the most likely group of people to commit suicide than any of the group.

That said I'm bipolar and the everyday abuse and ignorance towards people of mental health problems is horrific. Why pitch one group of poorly treated people against another.

stumblymonkey · 05/03/2016 22:21

Really we should be each other's biggest supporters across groups that face stigma

Solobo · 05/03/2016 22:47

Exactly stumbly. Well said