I've just finished reading a critical article about a campaign I've been working on. I think it's worth drawing attention to because it's followed by a loooong string of comments which add an extremely important dimension to the issues touched on in the campaign.
Above all, there are tons of comments from people who have been affected by mental health problems as well as senior Time to Change people who've been leading a massive research project about it. These are the people at the heart of the campaign objectives, they know first hand about the problems that we're trying to tackle, and for once those opinions are getting a proper public forum to be heard.
If you haven't seen the TVC or the posters, press or online work, take a look at the Time to Change website www.time-to-change.org.uk and let us know what you think via the forum, this blog, your own blog, youtube, twitter, the facebook group, whatever.
Even better, take the "What would you do?" quiz and compare your reactions to real-life experiences.
I'm betting that (if you haven't already experienced a MHP) even reading this you're probably thinking that this is important for others but irrelevant to your life. That's pretty much how I felt when I started working on it.
That's why this stage of the campaign is aimed at those of us who don't yet equate mental health problems with discrimination, so that eventually we won't even have to debate it.
it's weird. it's not like the mental health act helps though. it's like it's binary - crazy or sane.
when, like most things, it's a spectrum of behaviours and conditions.
the dude in the article knows from experience -but as you say most people will still act like depression is something you can pull yourself together.
discrimination needs to be acknowledged as such - it's most insidious when it doesn't think it is being discriminatory.
Posted by: farisyakob | February 10, 2009 at 12:44 AM