Fighting the stigma attached to mental health correlates to supporting individuals who experience harm that arises from the medicalization and gatekeeping of gender identities within feminist circles
By Kim Ngo
Fighting the stigma surrounded by mental health equates to fighting for the equality and well being of those who suffer from mental illnesses. The Canadian Mental Health Association projects that in any given year, one in five Canadians will experience a mental health problem or illness. Combating the stigma attached to mental health directly correlates to supporting individuals who experience harm that arises from the medicalization and gate-keeping of gender identity within feminist circles. Included in the statistic mentioned prior are individuals who experience the direct result of platforming of trans-phobia. The platforming of trans-phobia equates to being a non equal in society. As harms are caused, “Bell Let’s Talk”, the biggest annual campaign to spread awareness started by Bell Canada, allows for a reduction in these stigmas. Campaigns such as “Bell Let’s Talk” are an attempt to provide support to individuals who may not receive it regularly due to the stigma that has surrounded mental health.
Fighting the stigma with Bell Let’s Talk
Stigma causes a matter to not be taken seriously, which prompted Bell Canada to inaugurate their mental health campaign in 2011 called “Bell Let’s Talk”, designed to defeat stigma and raise awareness. “Stigma makes community and health decision-makers see people with mental illness with low regard, resulting in reluctance to invest resources into mental health care” (Sarturius, 2007). Their annual dedication is a transformative effort to resist systems that perpetuate bullying, oppression, violence, and marginalization amongst several social issues. “Bell donates five cents to mental health initiatives anytime “Bell Let’s Talk” is used on social media platforms. So widespread, its original $50-million donation to launch the initiative, is now $93,423,628.80 and expected to surpass $100 million” (Mental Health Commission of Canada, 2019). Bell Let’s Talk becomes effective any time their mobile customers send a text message, phone call, the hashtag is used on platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or a filter is used on the media application, Snapchat. Listed on the Bell Let’s Talk website are the variety of supporters, employees, as well as where funds go across Canada. Some of these funded organizations include West Nippising Suicide Prevention Task Force, Canadian Mental Health Association, and Pacific Post Partum Support Society to name a few amongst several.
Doctors turning their back when we need them most…
Detrimental harms caused by medicalization and gate-keeping of gender identity are reasons why stigma around mental health exists. Western medicine dis empowers individuals as treated by biased medical professionals. “Placing the lives of trans people into an “illness” framework ultimately stigmatized their identities and left their needs to be dictated my “medical professionals” rather than trans people themselves” (Finch, 2015). Sam Dylan Finch, an individual whom identifies as transgender, argues that trans individuals are seen as having psychological disorders rather than a valid identity. They face violence and oppression much more regularly opposed to cis gender individuals. “By age 40, about 50% of the population will have had a mental health problem” (CAMH, 2019). Finch goes on to explain that the harm caused by medicalization is because trans people are treated as deviants with shameful mental disorders.
Activist Charlie Craiggs has an important message…
”I don’t want to go through a panel of white, straight, CIS men in order to be validated”
Activist Charlie Craggs struggles to normalize visibility and vocalizes that trans people have the legal right to change their gender while acknowledging the gap of ignorance. “. . .If I say I’m a woman, I’m a woman. I don’t want to go through a panel of white, straight, CIS men in order to be validated” (Craggs, 2018). Gate-keeping gender identity becomes dangerous because it equates to simply belittling human beings. Regardless of the length an individual has identified as a certain gender, gender fluidity is difficult for society to grasp as it is not seen as a norm to many in today’s society. Social awareness is critical to one’s mental health because the constant scrutiny of being unaccepted by society is harmful on many levels. Mental health initiatives are evidently crucial due to the lack of aid elsewhere. The two issues of medicalization and gate-keeping perpetuate serious harm and explain why individuals experience mental illnesses; it stems from being widely rejected by society.
Celebrity support within feminist circles
Since the launch of Bell Let’s Talk in 2011, their website states they have partnered with over 1,000 organizations who have supported up to 3,500,000 Canadians. Alongside these many organizations, Bell uses a large vast of celebrities to aid in breaking the stigma. They use celebrities from Olympians to talk show hosts. “Using celebrities normalizes mental health as an issue people shouldn’t have to be ashamed about. During the past two years, the campaign has also received a massive boost when talk show host Ellen DeGeneres participated on Twitter” (Jackson, 2018). For example, although Caitlyn Jenner has not been directly associated with Bell Let’s Talk, she has been an advocate for trans individuals since her transition began in 2015. She became the first openly trans person on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2016 and has been seen as a role model in the trans community, normalizing her experience in front of a lens for the world to see. She is also a part of one of the most influential families in pop culture and has displayed her truth and a deep level or vulnerability in hopes to inspire others to do the same.
Helpful vs Harmful? You Decide
Aside from creating the largest mental health initiative, Bell’s Chief Executive Officer, George Cope, has focused on matters internally as well. “Bell has trained 10,000 employees in psychological health and safety in the workplace and doubled its benefits for psychology and social work to $3,000 per year per employee” (Jackson, 2018). Although this is a notably transformative effort, there has not been mass research done on the effect the Bell Let’s Talk campaign directly has on individuals who suffer mental illness stemming from medicalization and gate-keeping gender identity. It becomes evident that there needs to be more research done on individuals who may not always be in the light of these campaigns. “Jasmine Vido, a student of University of Windsor argues the campaign is more about building it’s brand than trying to combat the stigma” (Hristova, 2019) Although she argues about the marketing, she acknowledges it has helped her as well “I was silent about my struggles with anxiety and OCD for so long. A few years ago, I shared my story online and felt very inspired to help others… Now I am a lot more open about my experience with the illnesses and I feel a lot more comfortable to do so.” Furthermore, it must be stated that the campaign itself has been deemed as a massive way to market and capitalize on millennials and may cause more harm than help. “Billboards with photos of well-groomed people — mostly white — alongside text reading “Mental Health Affects Us All.”- (Pipher, 2019).
An accurate representation?
With the biggest campaign targeting the reduction of bullying, anti violence, anti racist, and anti oppressive behaviours, it is ironic the representation of mental health consists of well groomed Caucasian, that cannot be ignored.
Although the campaign “Bell Let’s Talk” has remained effective during past years by breaking the silence and stigma surrounding mental health and mental illness and has notably raised millions of dollars, the stigma around gender identity remains. Specifically, stigma around trans individuals sadly remains evident in today’s society. Challenges faced by the transgender community include: lack of legal protection, poverty, harassment and stigma, anti-transgender violence, barriers to healthcare, and identity documents. “Visibility — especially positive images of transgender people in the media and society — continues to make a critical difference for us; but visibility is not enough and comes with real risks to our safety” (“Understanding the Transgender Community”, 2019). However, it must still be appreciated that regardless of marketing tactic or not, any attempt at tackling the stigma attached to mental health directly correlates to the support of oppressed individuals who are not under the spotlight due to the harms caused by medicializaton and gate-keeping their gender identities within feminist circles..
