He/she has a mental disorder? I'll make sure I stay away..

4:20 pm

Hello!

To the point, I want to talk about mental health stigma. I am strongly against people who discriminate against anyone PURELY because they are suffering from mental health problems. KEY WORD HERE IS SUFFERING. That person is already going through enough and rather than people feel grateful that they are not the one ill, they stigmatise and stereotype against the person who is suffering.

When someone is physically ill, why do people suddenly rush to empathise with flowers and cards? Let me just point out, there are a number of physical illness which are CONTAGIOUS unlike mental illnesses, so shouldn't you be more willing to stay away from someone who has the flu? If our body can become poorly, why can’t our mind?!

Bad mental health is not something that a person can parade on their sleeve like bad physical health, so just because you can't see it doesn't mean that the person is not unwell, and it doesn’t allow you to be insensitive to their degree of suffering. Of course, I am only saying 'you' as a general term, don’t take it personally at all!

A lot of the time, someone who is mentally ill can get a great deal better just by support and having people listen and understand them. So just be there as a listening ear, provide them comfort and let them know you are there for them through their difficult period.

Another point, a lot of people judge a mentally ill person who is receiving treatment.. BECAUSE they are receiving treatment... WHY?!!

An individual who is mentally unwell has acknowledged this and has took the initiative to seek help and get better.. surely that's something to encourage and be proud of? It is a step in the right direction. They know they are unwell and want to get better. Many people hesitate from seeking treatment or telling their loved ones about it because they feel they will think bad of them.. sadly enough. :( More importantly, mental illnesses can be treated and that person receiving treatment will get better (with time and support).. so that’s something to be happy about!

It is time to stop stigmatising about mental illness and open our eyes. Mental disorders are extremely common. Get over it. Be supportive, be there.

If you have a mental illness then there's nothing to be ashamed about. Talk about it with confidence. It's time to make a change! Time to Change charity have been doing a lot to raise awareness and encourage people to talk about their mental health (time to talk day, 6th Feb 2014), which is absolutely great.

No one knows whether they’ll go through mental health issues in their future, so remember, what goes around comes around. Having a negative attitude towards mental health may come bite you in the back if you ever suffer from one yourself..

Here are some more great mental health charities:

Mind

Rethink

If you are aged 11-17 and want someone trained to talk to confidentially, log onto MindFull for immediate one-on-one online help.