Stigma associated with mental health

[SlowLifeLove]

AIBU to ask you what you do in your day-to-day lives, or what you do on a regular basis to reduce the stigma associated with mental health if you do anything at all?

We've just had a big workplace discussion with some colleagues feeling that there is nothing that can be done. I totally disagree with this and would like to see what others do, or have done.

[I am asking on the www as the conversation started to get a little heated]

Toastie on re re-reading your post I completely agree with the sentiments (and also sorry for what you have been put through) - i.e. it's ok until your behaviour or performance is affected, then they are not so "right on" - in my industry you can draw parrallels with HSE stuff - it gets rammed down everyones throat and lots of virtue signalling about how much they care until the bottom line is in danger and then the whole chain of command starts to get conveniently blind eyes and everyone just hopes for the best... I hate it.

So to answer the OP, no, I don't think there will ever be the level of empathy required for mental illness to be accepted and accomodated in the workplace in the same way as other health problems - in fact I recall threads on here and articles in the news about people with chronic conditions, cancer etc. being forced out - you can even make comparisons with maternity leave issues if you like. It's Darwinian I suppose - survival of the fittest - and we will never be perceived as that if we disclose or exhibit any symptoms.

Empathy might come from colleagues in the short term, but the organisation will be out to get you. I never, ever trust HR departments because of this - populated generally by the sneaky. (Enormous, unfounded generalisation I know - sorry but I've been formed by my own direct experiences, I have also seen the enormous unheralded effort that they often put in for the welfare of staff...)

I try to be honest about my own struggles with anxiety, but I find it difficult for both internal (perfectionism, control, masking due to years of bullying at school) and external (fear of stigma) reasons.

On the other hand, when I am honest it is made easier by the fact that my anxiety is/was pretty mild on the scale of MH problems, and is currently pretty much under control. I think it's absolutely true that my sort of presentation is the 'acceptable' face of mental illness.

Someone dear to me has bipolar and has been sectioned with major psychosis. Their illness is also now very well controlled, but they have nevertheless struggled with employment. Part of me would love to use them as an example to break down the 'othering' effect of serious mental illness, but I don't think it's appropriate to discuss someone else's medical history, so I don't.

I don't really know what the solution is, I wish I did I feel that the best I can do for now is to use my own experiences to be supportive whenever I encounter someone else who is struggling, and try to model acceptance and support.

No, it should say mental health. It doesn't just include illnesses.

Surely just call it mental health issues or something then? I know the word health is technically all-encompassing so it could mean good or poor, but to say someone is healthy is accepted to mean in good health so the term mental health means with no mental health issues.

On topic, I have noticed an improvement in folk's attitudes over the last twenty years (when I was first diagnosed). Still a long way to go though, thinking of a conversation I had last year with someone where they asserted that "We all get depressed, it's just that some people handle it better than others". I'm not really sure people like that can be enlightened though because the individual who said that has four family members with varying mental health issues and clearly still.doesn't get it.

I try to be open about it. "Hallo Banana, how are you?" "I'm struggling with my anxiety right now, but thanks for asking - how are you?" If I'm in a bad way - "Thank you for asking but I'm not in a good place with my anxiety right now and am struggling to engage - please could we chat another time?" The effort can be enormous, but I love my friends and would rather that they are aware rather than just ignore them when I am struggling to speak.

I must admit that at work, I couldn't give a shit.

Thank you, OP, you have made me think about the workplace and perhaps I have a responsibility to talk about it instead of withdrawing without explanation. Whole days can go by without me speaking to anyone at work because all my effort is taken up with breathing.

qualityjaisket

I'm quite happy calling it mental health. It fits the purpose of what I am asking about thank you very much. I am talking about all aspects of mental health - and yes, I have experienced stigma whilst talking about what attributes to positive mental health as well.

I've just heard someone on Broadcasting House (Radio 4 programme) refer to a footballer taken to hospital "Where he was diagnosed with mental health". Not "with issues concerning his mental health" or "a mental health condition" but "mental health". Well I'd love to be diagnosed with mental health but as a lifelong depressive that's unlikely to happen and I'll keep taking the tablets.

It used to be common to hear someone described as "mental" which was meaningless really since that just means pertaining to the mind rather than the body and what was meant was 'mentally ill'. Now one more often hears "He/she has got mental health" which just means the opposite of what is intended. If they said mental health problems/condition/issues that would be fine, but many people are using mental health to mean mental ill-health.

Anyway, having had my say above about something that irritated me this morning I'm now going to hide this thread, so no need to come back and have a go at me. I've become very anxious about that happening now I've posted, which just serves to illustrate that I haven't got mental health. I'd like to have it though.

I'm open about my own mental health problems, and I call out people when I hear them make an off comment.
But I wouldnt initiate a discussion at work out of the blue, where people might need to get on with their work (and fob you off with a comment like 'nothing can be done').