This month saw the launch of the If It’s Okay campaign, fronted in Scotland by anti-stigma organisation See Me, which previously promoted It’s Okay To Not Be Okay in an attempt to normalise talking about mental health problems. According to new research just released, 15% of Scots would feel uncomfortable working with someone who has a diagnosed mental illness, and 7% would be scared to talk to them. The same survey also noted, however, that 54% thought mental health stigma had decreased in the past five years.
It’s surely reasonable to assume that stigma is at play here in some way, and given the mixed messages the media sends us around mental health and various diagnoses, it isn’t really a surprise. Just last week the UK Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mel Stride, claimed that mental health culture has “gone too far”, implying that people who are not really unwell at all are getting signed off sick with mental health problems. I have heard this attitude myself – ‘playing the mental health card’ is a phrase bandied about by those who genuinely believe that getting diagnosed with mental illness is a fast ticket to not having to work. But often these same people, when faced with working alongside someone with such a diagnosis, are not pleased about it. If their illness affects their ability to do the job, that displeasure only increases.
Mental illness misconceptions
There are many things one can say about the idea of a ‘mental health culture’, and the same people who are most angry (and maybe envious) about anyone whom they see as ‘lazy’, and ‘feckless skivers’, not working as they have to, are often the same who talk about ‘millennials’ as a ‘snowflake generation’. These ideas don’t come from nowhere, and the media (and UK government) are just as guilty of perpetuating these stereotypes. The ongoing campaign to bash benefit claimants and make them a scapegoat for the failures of those in power and of the global economic system is one that never goes away. The film ‘I, Daniel Blake’ is a powerful depiction of how the cruel nature of government policies causes so much harm to people who are subject to DWP sanctions and assessments, and their related pressures. There is also much evidence to suggest that these DWP processes cause many suicides and suicide attempts.
Conversely, the media also portrays those with mental illness as maniacal, strange and irrational. Who can forget the Sun’s ‘Bonkers Bruno’ headline regarding ex-boxer Frank Bruno, and, more recently, reporting around the verdict of the Nottingham killings by Valdo Calocane? So, on the one hand those with mental illness are just lazy and basically faking it, but on the other hand, they are dangerous lunatics. Either way they are not considered good people, so it is no wonder people don’t open up about their mental health.
Weaponisation of mental illness
Social media, too, has been a platform for amplifying mental health stigma. Diagnoses are thrown about like a weapon (for example, people alleging their partners/ex partners are narcissists or have narcissistic personality disorder), often without any known input from experts in the field. This has led to the rise of ‘armchair psychology’, and surely discourages many from opening up about their mental health issues. There is a lack of accountability still inherent in platforms like Facebook and X, which is less seen in press media.
Mental health services can often add to self-stigma and feeling ashamed of having a mental illness. Hope is not always communicated from mental health professionals; telling my parents I would never have a job, at age 17, because of my illness (which turned out to be wrong), and, after my second episode of psychosis, that I had paranoid schizophrenia and so would always need a high dose of antipsychotics (I haven’t), was both unhelpful and inaccurate. Sadly, this seems all too common. Diagnosis is everything in this setting; it can affect how you are viewed and treated by staff and the longer you stay under mental health care, the more you can internalise the idea that there is something fundamentally ‘wrong’ with you.
But there are many reasons why feeling able to be honest about your mental health is vitally important. For one, it is beneficial to all of us. If we feel unable to ‘come out’ about it, it becomes even more of a problem and a contributing stressor than it already is or can be. The shame we already experience is exacerbated by the fact we feel we have to lie about it. We feel dishonest and certainly in my case, I am constantly waiting apprehensively for the day on which I am ‘outed’ to those whose opinions matter to me – such as in the workplace, or regarding someone attractive, or a person of influence in my life.
Understanding mental illness
Unsurprisingly, it is always a relief when I admit my problems and am met with understanding, empathy and compassion. It has not always been the case, and often I can tell who will and will not be understanding. For example, I have always gravitated towards working in the third sector at least in part because (in my mind at least) individuals employed there will be more empathetic and compassionate, and so far, I have found that to be true. Mainstream employers, in contrast, have often been more prejudiced and unwilling to give me a chance to work with them.
From the point of view of those to whom a person is disclosing, it is also helpful for them to know that the person has the illness so they know the difficulties they may have and figure out how to best help support them. If someone does choose to disclose their condition, responding in an understanding, non-judgmental and empathetic way is always more helpful. Reflecting back what someone is saying, mirroring their feelings, acknowledging someone’s past trauma if they discuss it, rather than dismissing it. For example, just saying ‘that must have been very upsetting for you’ can make a world of difference. Mocking, laughing, blaming, or recoiling in horror will further shame the person.
If it feels appropriate to ask how the condition affects them, to gain more insight into how to offer support, this may be more helpful than Googling symptoms as everyone experiences things differently, at least to some degree. It is important to remember that it is simply a diagnosis, which is used to guide doctors on a course of treatment, not a crime, nor a comment on someone’s moral character, and it certainly does not or should not lessen their inherent value. It is not ‘who they are’.
Listening is a skill anyone can learn but it does not always come automatically and can take practice. Opening up can take courage, but a more compassionate and non-judgmental society would undoubtedly create healthier conditions and discussions around psychiatric diagnoses. Maybe the best thing we can all do is admit our own flaws, that no one is perfect, and therefore no one should be afraid of honest conversations and vulnerability about their mental health.
Read more from this author on the topic of mental health.
