Posted by TamaraJ on May 12, 2005, at 17:14:43
In reply to mental illness stigma, posted by rainbowbrite on May 11, 2005, at 18:30:45
I think that there is a better understanding of depression and anxiety disorders than there used to be, but that there still exists narrow-mindedness and ignorance about things like schizophrenia, etc. In the province where I live, the Lieutenant Governor of the Province (a high-profile position) is someone who has suffered from recurrent major depressive episodes his entire life, and he has become an ardent mental health advocate in the province. He has been very open and honest about his mental illness, even when he held senior positions in the foreign service respresenting Canada as Ambassador or High Commissioner in other countries. He also talks openly about his upbringing and his mother's sruggle with bipolar disorder. He does acknowledge, however, that some of his colleagues and others were not always comfortable with his openness. Since his becoming Lieutenant Governor of the province, I have noticed public service ads on the t.v. where a number of average Canadians say something like "I am one" and at the end an announcer says something like these people have a mental illness. I work with a number of people who are on medication for recurring depression or an anxiety disorder, and those of us at the office who do take medication don't hide it. That being said, I think we know who in the office we can talk openly about our struggles. Nevertheless, it is true that there are still narrow-minded and judgemental people who have a distorted image of those who have mental illnesses, and much work remains to be done to educate the public about mental illnesses.
Tamara
poster:TamaraJ
thread:496569
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20050503/msgs/496988.html