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Yesterday I participated in a radio show discussing the issues surrounding the topic of mental health. It was a real eye opener to find out how many lives are affected by mental health illnesses. Speaking to professionals and specialists in particular areas made me realise a lot, specifically that stigma around the subject needs to be broken down.
It really hit home when a councillor that I spoke to mentioned the fact that people throw around the words depression and OCD like there is no tomorrow. We treat them as normal, everyday words rather than sensitive topics. Looking back, the amount of times I’ve found myself saying “I’m so depressed, I have nothing to wear” or “I’m so OCD about that”, is ridiculous. I mean, we say it in a harmless way without any consideration as to what the true meaning is, but yesterday has opened my eyes to the fact that it shouldn’t be a subject that we joke about, both illnesses are very serious afflictions that people suffer horribly from.
When halloween comes around and the shops are filled with mental health patient costumes which consist of long white jackets and scary googly eyes, we don’t even batter an eyelid. Looking at it from a different perspective, you soon realise that it’s a nasty stereotype that people act so insensitive about. These people are labelled as ‘crazy’ or ‘insane’, showing an utter lack of education around the issue.
Modern media is also guilty of portraying this negative representation. When analysing films such as Shutter Island, Leonardo DiCaprio plays a mental health patient but he is simply portrayed as being insane. This film doesn’t raise awareness or inform people about mental health illnesses, but instead reinforces the lack of stability and social awareness that a person suffering from a mental health disorder incurs. It almost mocks the situation.
Stereotypes are everywhere in our day to day lives, with mental health patients being just a fraction of the number of groups being discriminated against. Society tells us that in order to be accepted, we have to fall into a specific category, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Women in particular come face to face with stereotypical beliefs everyday, a simple trip to the bathroom and we encounter an image of a ‘lady’ who is determined as being a lady by the fact that she is wearing a dress. When in reality this is an exaggerated assumption.
Despite stereotypical issues having improved over recent years, its safe to say that they defiantly still exist. It is important that we work hard to break down these barriers and open our minds to other people’s personalities, even if they aren’t what we expected. It is important to have an open mind.
