Stigma

  • Choose Your Words Carefully – You Impact People Around You

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

    I have said it many times – the reason you don’t “know anyone with mental health issues” is most likely because you aren’t a safe person to talk to about those issues. More than that, by creating an environment where mental health is not talked about, or is maybe even stigmatized, you are making it less likely that the people you care about will seek out help when they need it. 

    Suppose your family and friends can have open conversations about mental health, including their own experiences with therapy or other resources. In that case, it’s more likely that the people you care about will seek the help they need. 

  • The Difference Between Knowledge and Life Experience

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 3 minutes

    You should not feel sorry for me. This post isn’t about me. As I said, I have a condition that millions of people deal with every day. I’ll do the same. It’s about the reality that people around us are living with things that require efforts that we don’t understand. Just showing up for life every day requires effort and dedication from everyone you know. The amount of effort and challenges are different, and they are not distributed equally. You shouldn’t dismiss anyone’s struggles, especially if you’ve not been in those same circumstances yourself. 

    Some things have to be experienced to see all the details. When someone is willing to share the details of their challenges, listen and learn. Raise their voices instead of assuming you know the answers. 

    Experience is a hard teacher. We all can learn the lessons from those who’ve lived it. 

  • Concentric Circles of Trauma

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

    No, the easiest way to break up those circles, as any kid who threw rocks into the water can tell you, is to throw another rock and create new concentric circles starting from a different location.

    In my metaphor about the trauma, I wonder what those other rocks could be. Mental health treatment? Care and support from family and friends? The elimination of stigma attached to trauma?

    How about instead of ignoring the circles, we started throwing some more useful rocks and disrupting the cycles of trauma that we see repeated over and over again in those circles?