One of the most effective ways to erase stigma is by people with lived experience telling their stories of recovery: COMING OUT. Being in the closet with mental health experiences often leads to shame. COMING OUT replaces shame with a sense of authority and empowerment. COMING OUT promotes the fact that people with even the most serious of mental illnesses recover and do so by actively choosing their goals. This is a book about people COMING OUT, standing up and proudly hailing their life journey, highlighting challenges and accomplishments in the process.
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I have a hard time feeling proud about my schizophrenia. I certainly don’t think it is a good thing, and I don’t want to go out proclaiming I want love and acceptance. I understand this need to reduce stigma, but it’s not something I want weighed against other things about me. I want to be known for other things.
I hear you. You just made me realize why I have a problem with modeling reducing mental illness stigma with the highly successful Coming Out of the Gay community:
Homosexuality isn’t a disease; mental illness (by definition) is.
Very cool, thank you for posting this.
It’s odd how many positive stories about mental illness research and stigma fighting and people working to better understand are in the news right now.
Things are slow to change… but it feels like they are changing.
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More like SPEAKING OUT then coming out.
The more attention this gets and the more talk we generate, hopefully there will be more research and better meds, and people will be educated instead of scared. Better benefits!
Who knows-maybe a cure!
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