Living With Mental Illness
Mentally Ill people are being challenging daily by the deadly stigma and discrimination around this epidemic.
No, suffering and surviving the stigma and discrimination is so hardly challenging for any human being to maintain and cope with in healthy, positive ways.
Being affected/impacted by the stigma and discrimination around mental illness is ever so challenging and too hard to the point where it triggers suicidal thoughts along with negative behaviours, words, speeches and actions that cause this particularly yet killer side effect/symptom to a mental illness.
Just because you don’t understand it, doesn’t mean it isn’t so. – Lemony Snicket
Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. But bias and stigma shame us all. – Bill Clinton
We all need to continue in our long journey with breaking this ugly yet deadly stigma and discrimination around mental illness in our society. We all need to remain as strong as we can no matter how powerful the stigma can affect us in one moment. We can fight this together.
First Lady Michelle Obama was the keynote speaker today at a groundbreaking summit in Washington D.C. focused on bringing awareness to mental health challenges and ending stigma. Non-profit organization Give an Hour launched its new campaign, Change Direction, at the summit to bring attention to the signs of someone working through a mental health challenge, and encourage those in attendance to be aware of what it looks like when a person is in need.
The new campaign, Change Direction, is not solely focused on military personnel, but is instead motivated to reach anyone who is going through a mental health challenge and is too afraid to speak up, much like Each Mind Matters and Know the Signs. The movement calls on anyone and everyone to learn the five signs of a person in need and help change the story of mental health across the country.
Over the next five years, educational tools and programs are expected to reach over 30 million Americans – now that’s what we call joining the mental health movement!
Mrs. Obama also supports her own initiative called Joining Forces, which encourages support of military veterans and their families. At the summit, her powerful words were about service members, veterans and families who have bravely told their own stories to change the face of mental health and how important it is to seek help.
“Our mental health seriously affects our physical health. So there should be no stigma around mental health, none at all” she said at the summit. She also reinforced the need for all Americans to learn about recognizing indicators of a mental health challenge in loved ones.
Give an Hour’s mission is to organize volunteers nationwide who are able to respond to situations where a person is experiencing a mental health challenge, whether it be acute or a chronic condition. Right now, the group is focused on assisting troops and families who were affected by the post-9/11 conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The signs the organization is urging America to learn about are personality change, agitation, withdrawal, poor self-care and hopelessness. To get detailed information about these signs and see a clip of Mrs. Obama’s message to you, please visit www.ChangeDirection.org now.
Each Mind Matters encourages anyone to reach out if you think you or a friend is dealing with a mental health challenge.
Visit SuicideIsPreventable.org to learn the warning signs for suicide and find local resources in your county. If you or someone you know may be at risk, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1–800–273–8255 for immediate help. Answered locally by trained crisis center staff, this resource is available 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.
“The stigma around talking about mental health and getting help for it just doesn’t make any sense,” she said. “This is an issue that affects us all.”
“We need to teach our kids that mental illnesses are just like physical illnesses and deserve the same kind of care and compassion,”
Sadly, too often, the stigma around mental health prevents people who need help from seeking it. But that simply doesn’t make any sense. Whether an illness affects your heart, your arm or your brain, it’s still an illness, and there shouldn’t be any distinction. We would never tell someone with a broken leg that they should stop wallowing and get it together. We don’t consider taking medication for an ear infection something to be ashamed of. We shouldn’t treat mental health conditions any differently. Instead, we should make it clear that getting help isn’t a sign of weakness – it’s a sign of strength – and we should ensure that people can get the treatment they need. – Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama is such a great inspirational women in our world that we are all lucky to have here with us. Her speech below is more than just inspirational, touching, empowering but also states what she believes needs to change in our world.
Like Demi Lovato sated her her speech while supporting Hilary Clinton,
“We can do better.”
What a great women we have, wish Donald TRump or Hilary Clinton could have some of her presidential qualities. With enough smart, logical, creative and ethical knowledge and thinking (including the mindset too) that would have many to believe that either canidate would crate bette change in USA.
