Link – Talking about mental illness is no substitute for offering real help
Rachel is correct, talking about it should lessen the stigma around mental health issues, but we have not reached the next level yet, where people can talk about it without suffering social and professional consequences.
For all the great work of celebrities, there’s also a sense in the room that the life of a famous person does not reflect the life of someone working long hours in an office. It’s almost as if the gods of screen or sport are expected to be a bit mentally unstable, given the vicissitudes of their professional life, even if such thinking is misguided. But someone with a steady, well-paid job? Why should they be depressed? Equally, we may think it more likely for those suffering from real social deprivation to experience mental illness. But someone who has his own business? Or a successful doctor or plumber?
So what’s to be done to destigmatise mental health issues?
Go read the whole thing, there’s much to think about how we treat people who come forward with their mental health struggles, in the workplace especially. And for goodness sakes, please don’t ever tell someone they have “nothing to be depressed about”. That’s not how any of this works.
