My boyfriend sent me a link shared on Facebook but originally from Instagram of a video with a cat parodying the J.G. Wentworth commercial jingle, except they changed the lyrics to, "I have a mental illness and I need cats now..." Only two people in the comments I read were offended. Everyone else thought it was hilarious.
I feel as if the world tells people with mental health issues to not isolate or hide but if you come out you are outcasted and labeled and become “the weird one”.
The stigma is still there, we are taking small steps to break it down but using phrases like “she’s bipolar” when you get upset or, “he’s a psychopath” or having day to day stress and the comment “my anxiety levels can’t get higher”, depression has become a social media trend.
The world has A LOT of opinions about health conditions: what a person should or shouldn’t do (“you can just choose to be happy!“), why the diagnosis exists (“you’re just stressed!“), how someone should treat it (“have you tried not eating gluten?“). Maybe one or all of those sound familiar to you.
But if you had to narrow it down to a singular myth — which one would you like to bust forever? It can be specific to a condition you live with or to general wellness.
“Pop” those stigma balloons below 🎈
#CheckInWithMe #MentalHealth #Anxiety #Depression #Stigma #MentalHealthStigma #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #Disability #RareDisease #ADHD
Rock climbing saved my life. When I am on the side of that mountain, I feel more grounded, more alive, and more connected to the Universe. For me, it’s a holy place. This is my church. In my 32 short years on this planet, I have found climbing to be a beautiful metaphor for overcoming the difficulties life throws our way, sometimes.
In the rock climbing community as in everyday life, we refer to the obstacles we’re working through as “problems”. Although I am tired, hurting, and feel I can’t go on...I don’t give up. I continue pushing through the pain, doubt, and exhaustion until I finally reach the summit. At which point, I can reflect back on all the problems I overcame, the path I took, and what technique I used to get through it. Then, I can feel an overwhelming sense of pride and accomplishment for all my hard work. The next time I encounter a similar problem, I'll know what to do to get past it.
No one pushed or pulled me up the mountain. All that hard work was mine. The person on the ground belaying me is merely there to provide me with safety, support, and ensure I do not fall, should I stumble. Everything else is up to me. The more I work through my problems, with my friend supporting me on the ground, the stronger I become.
You see, therapy is a lot like rock climbing. In this allegory or metaphor, you (the climber) are the patient, the mountain is your crisis, the "problems" are all the obstacles that stand between you and overcoming the crisis such as the loss of a job or the death of a loved one or an illness, the summit is mental wellness, and the person belaying you is the therapist.
While your therapist doesn't tell you how to feel, what to think, or what conclusions to come to, they are there as a constant support to figuratively catch you should you have any setbacks during your journey. They keep you safe and secure by "holding the rope" so that you do not plummet, and so you can resume where you left off whenever you are ready.
You can absolutely achieve wellness on your own, or "free climb", but the trek will be significantly more difficult, and there will be no one "on the ground" to spot an easier path or remind you of different techniques you can implement to overcome those problem areas. So even though you are the one doing all the work, your therapist is an integral part of your team, who spots the problem areas ahead of time and assists in identifying the various tools you can use to get past them. In essence, they help you work through the problems in this way, without actually pulling or pushing you up the side of the "mountain". This is how you gain the strength and coping tools needed to persevere toward this summit and all future summits. Thus, rock climbing has taught me that when you replace "I" with "we", mental illness truly does become mental wellness❤
#MentalHealth #CollegeMentalHealth #wellness #CollegeSports #Sports #Therapist #Psychiatrist #ChronicIllnessStigma #EndTheStigma #MentalHealthStigma #BipolarDisorder #Agoraphobia #BrainInjury #Medication #Inspiration #Depression #Addiction #MentalHealthHero
It’s no secret there’s a lot of stigma and “hush hush” when it comes to talking about suicide.
One of the ways we can combat that stigma and open up the conversation so more people can get the help they need when they are feeling suicidal is to make sure the language we’re using around it isn’t inherently stigmatizing.
This video by The Mighty explains why the phrase “committed suicide” is language we need to update.
Watch it here: youtube.com/shorts/cKp8ERRx5BA
#MentalHealth #Suicide #SuicideSurvivor #SuicideLoss #SuicideLossSurvivor #Stigma #Depression #MentalHealthStigma
I think it's a great idea to talk openly and unashamedly about psychosis and our experience of it as a lot of the time people who struggle would rather do so in silence and prefer to live in that unwarranted shame for whatever reason; internalised stigma is one of the most prevalent in psychotic disorders if not the most. #Psychosis #Schizophrenia #SchizoaffectiveDisorder #PsychoticDisorder #MentalHealthStigma #EndTheStigma
The description in this 'meme' just doesn't say borderline to me. More like schizophrenic or maybe bipolar.
Thoughts?
Case and point.
#Borderline #BPD #JohnnyDepp #AmberHeard #MentalHealthStigma
A thought struck me yesterday. In light of this Depp v. Heard trial, where Amber Heard was diagnosed with both BPD and HPD, even though BPD is already highly stigmatized Amber Heard just added fuel to the fire. Now, I'm concerned that if I tell someone I have BPD they will equate me with someone so crazy and abusive as her.
#Borderline #BPD #Histrionic #HPD #JohnnyDepp #AmberHeard #MentalHealthStigma
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