Why is talking about stigma never okay?
I realize I'm harping on about this again but here is what I don't get. Why is it never okay to talk about Stigma? I know we can talk about it here and everything but to actually mention in real life it's as if it's taboo. The reason why this bothers me so much is that plenty of other marginalized groups actually have recognition of their struggles amongst the population to some extent or another. But we can't talk about it. We can't mention it. Yes in some limited capacity we can talk about it in little clubs at say a university or maybe in a real life support group. But as a whole our voices are generally left out of the public discourse. Granted unlike many other marginalized groups we are not a "culture" or "class" that shares common identity or common experiences outside of our experiences with our diagnosis and ever present stigma but we are still a demographic of people that are one of the most easily victimized. But even still we can't say anything. We can't get mad about it. We can't get sad about it. If we do more than make a meek, polite mention of it than we're just "off our meds" or "being bipolar" or something similar.
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I don't know if you have a DU incarnation prior to your current username, you may be aware that posts about this have been made.
The issue in this group is to share your experiences around mental illness, and it has been discussed in this forum in relation to individual group participants difficulties with it and --prior to the creation of the Mental Health Information group--about the national trend to target the mentally ill as the major problem with gun violence.
It seems to me that dealing with the problems associated with learning to cope with the stigma (note cope doesn't mean accept) that impacts you directly or which you simply fear would be fine within this group.
Information sharing and discussion of published articles/books on stigma is certainly a topic that could be discussed in MHIG. MHIG is broadly open to information sharing.
People who are around mental illness are well aware of stigma. We can and do get mad about it. As I wrote before, being sad, angry, and frustrated are all reasonable responses to being hit with it. But behavior that is indicative of anger, particularly what looks like a loss of temper, or is highly emoitional is problematic when confronting people who are bigoted about the mentally ill. Emotionality and anger is what they look for as evidence that the mentally ill are "crazy".
It's quite challenging to know enough about the costs of stigma to have an informed position to garner respect while maintaining a deliberate coolness that doesn't arouse anger (people hate to be called, or even linked to the bigotry in their word choice) in yourself or others.
There are many groups outside DU that are working to stop/end the stigma. The advocacy and activity you want might be found in one of them.
If you can, do a bit of poking around the internet and find groups such as this:
CBAF is committed to eliminating the stigmas surrounding mental illness as part of our mission.
We achieve these goals through non-partisan advocacy, sponsorship of initiatives, and engaging in multiple-path informational activities to increase public awareness of mental illness,eliminating stigmas about the mentally ill and providing a powerful voice for those affected by mental health problems so they no longer are left to suffer alone or in shame.
They seem to like this poster:
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