The theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is “Surviving or Thriving?” We think that low levels of mental health are not just ‘surviving’, they are absolutely ‘thriving’- these are just two of the findings from The Mental Health Foundation. Click here to see the full list.
- Nearly two-thirds of people say that they have experienced a mental health problem.
- Only a small minority of people (13%) report living with high levels of good mental health.
Let’s square a circle:
How do these numbers square with the fact that there is stigma surrounding mental health? How can it be that with so many people affected by mental health that there is any breathing space for stigma to survive? After all those with high levels of mental health appear to be in the minority.
Stigma or denial? Given that the majority of people have either experienced low levels of mental health or know someone who has, we think that we all need to ask ourselves the question: Is now the time for us to stop using the word stigma as an excuse for our own denial?
Please, talk about mental health, not just because you want to remove stigma, but because it affects you.
