Response to Discussion of Mental Health Stigma

Recently, Ruby Wax did a documentary discussing her experience with mental health and the stigma attached.

It's available here: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/ruby-waxs-mad-confessions/4od

Firstly, I must say how much I appreciated this documentary and its intentions - truthful and accessible. However, I felt it did not cover the issue of mental illness stigma for the younger generation/s. I loved the painful honesty of Ruby Wax discussing how she had kept her illness from her children and managed to work through it with her husband - but I'm not there in my life yet. What does the mental illness stigma mean to me?

Usefully (or not, depending on how you look at it) I had a very early and thorough education in mental health problems as I have known someone severely bi-polar for a long time. Looking back I can note some stages of my understanding.

Ages 4 - 7 

Not realising my life wasn't normal.

8 - 11 

Knowing it wasn't normal but not fully understanding the illness. 

12 - 15 

More understanding and feeling massively resentful.

16 - 18 

Fully understanding and annoyed by everyone else's perceived immaturity on the subject.

19 - Present

More appreciative of people lack of understanding and realising I suffer with depression too*.

A key behaviour I've noticed among people my age or younger is the flippant use of the word 'depressed' as well as its meaning thought to be solely that of being sad. Does this create a false sense of knowledge in people that use it? Do people who have a bad break up and declare themselves to be depressed think that they actually are depressed, or do they know they're being melodramatic? This is a question I can't answer as I have never not been aware of the meaning of the word depression. 

Aside from simply feeling that my peers did not know about the subject I was also very aware of the stigma. I felt that if I came out, so to speak, it would not just be a case of, "Oh, so what's that then?", but more like a sort of unspoken black mark. Particularly as a teenage girl I was very aware of how it may affect my already meagre popularity with the opposite sex. "Don't date the mentalist!" I would hear the hypothetical boys chant**. Luckily, I am now getting to a stage where the men I socialise with have, or will soon, come across the film 'Betty Blue' and my mental issues suddenly become the hottest thing about me.

I digress.

As I said, I used to be angry and peoples ignorance but I have since asked the question - what would I know about mental illness if it weren't in my everyday life?The answer is: probably nothing. I never heard one mention of mental health at school so of course there's a stigma. People aren't encouraged to talk about it and don't have any appropriate knowledge to do so. As with most stigmas - education is the key. 

So, what does this stigma mean for me? I am less fearful of employment opportunities than the adults featured in the programme; I think thats probably down to positive progress as far as equality in the workplace is concerned. I remain fearful for maintaining and forging new relationships (platonic or otherwise) as I think lack of understanding can be particularly devastating in that aspect of life. 

About a year ago I was unbelievably relieved to read that Sarah Silverman, a very successful comedian, had said she didn't want to have biological children for fear of passing on her depression. This is why talking is important; despite being in contact with mental health problems for a long time I had never heard anyone express this particular concern. Because no one had ever talked about this with me, I had built up a massive amount of stress regarding having kids while suffering with depression. That stress probably wouldn't have been there had I known others had similar misgivings and I am now on the way to being much more rational and calm on the subject. 

Maybe I hope this post will do to someone what that little article about Sarah Silverman did to me. 

*I was actually diagnosed somewhere in the 16 - 18 stage but I don't think I'd quite grasped what that mean't at the time. 

**Then they would hypothetically debate my boobs and social standing in their hypothetical palace of self deprecation. Fuck you hypothetical boys (hypothetically).