The
goal of Time To Talk Day (set up by the organisation Time To Change) is that it dedicates one day in particular, for those
who support the cause in talking more openly about mental health in order to
reduce the stigma of it. It’s highly recognised now, that one of the greatest roots
of mental health stigma is the reluctance to talk about it. To have conversations
about daily struggles. And to open up and tell others about your own mental ill
health to encourage them to do the same so that people are more likely to both,
ask for support/help, and/or recognise that judging those in similar situations
is wrong and inappropriate.
Here at
I’m NOT Disordered, mental health is, pretty much, the name of the game! I
don’t know if some of you know this or not – or will even believe it – but
there were a few years when I didn’t talk about my mental health. Ironically,
it was probably the years that I really needed to; but I was still quite young
(18-21); an age bracket that, I feel, is at the height of the stigmatised views
against mental health.
I can
remember having someone ask me once why I wouldn’t talk about what had happened
to me and I told them that as soon as I tell someone they’ll judge me. Growing
up, I always hear horror stories about the local Psychiatric hospital so when I
ended up being admitted, I was terrified to tell anyone and I went through
great steps to hide that I was struggling with my mental health.
After
being dishonest and secretive for three years, I was admitted to a hospital in
Bradford for a ‘long-term’ (it ended up being for two and a half years) I knew
that I couldn’t keep that a secret. So I wrote a long post on Facebook. Because
of the positive, supportive replies (and a few other reasons) I began I’m NOT
Disordered.
Being
brutally honest in my blog posts has meant talking about running away from
hospital, overdosing, shouting at staff, being restrained, and hallucinating.
But through being so open, readers can fully appreciate my recovery, can better
relate to me, and can identify with my struggles so as to feel less alone and
unsupported - emotions that can hugely impact
your mental wellbeing.
This week, for Time To Talk Day; I'm NOT Disordered will be publishing a post every day this week. I have five videos by different professionals who are all in mental health services and one other text post.
Keep an eye on my social media (all links to the right of your screen) for the alerts when each post is live!
But that's all I'm telling you!!
Keep an eye on my social media (all links to the right of your screen) for the alerts when each post is live!
In the meantime, to see my previous work with Time To Change for Time To Talk Day; here it is: