I am ashamed to say that most of my life I have ignored mental health stigma. I am even more ashamed to say that what has woken me up to it, has been my personal experience.
Why so ashamed you might say? We all only tend to care about something once it affects us personally.
However, as a long-term sufferer of bipolar disorder I have mixed feelings about the disclosure of my illness. The experience of stigma has a huge impact on anyone who has experienced mental health problems.
It’s ironic that on Mental Health Awareness Week for 2018 I’ve been signed off sick from work. It wasn’t intentional but it is symbolic. People suffering from mental health problems push themselves too hard for too long trying to pretend that things are OK, pulling a shroud of secrecy over their lives in the hope that people don’t find out how they’re really feeling.
