Thank you for allowing me to not feel alone...

Actress Glenn Close has become an extraordinary advocate for the mentally ill.  In her organization, BringChange2Mind, she works to decrease the stigma of mental illness.  Her sister and nephew both ''suffer with" mental illness. And because of the fact that Jessie Close and Calen Pick have "suffered with" mental illness, she has made this advocacy a key part of her life.  I am totally in awe of this family.  They have put themselves out there.  They have committed time, resources, and energy. 

On her organizational website, www.bringchange2mind.org, she educates.  You can read stories about people surviving and thriving with mental illness.  You can read about the struggles.  And you can read about the work that her organization does and commit to being a part of the solution.  My favorite part of this website is that it is educational in nature.  Since I have a very personal commitment to looking at the impact of stigma, this part is wonderful for me.  And it has contributed to my education.  Today, when reading it over, I noticed something that had not struck home before.  In a discussion about mental illness, it talks about how the vocabulary we use means a lot.  And I noticed a word used that I use all the time in relationship to mental illness.  That is the word “suffering”.  As the article says, what you say betrays a lot about what you think.  And many people who “live with” mental illness are moving forward with life.  As I have discussed on this blog, mental illness is not the end.  There are options out there.  Suffering can be part of this.  But it is not the only part.  Medication, therapy, and support make a huge difference.  And recovery is out there!  Maybe if we all think about having a mental illness as something we “live with” instead of “suffer with”, we will help create the mind-set about mental illness that we want to have. And in the process, we will empower ourselves. 

In order to deal with stigma, we have to look at our own attitudes.  And I am grateful that the words I read on BringChange2Mind help me to do that.  I benefit from reading the stories written by mentally ill people because I find them inspirational and moving.  I am also so moved by the fact that people are talking because when I lived with and loved Maxine, I had no idea that you could talk about this so openly.  I love seeing the PSA’s created by the organization because it is a wonderful and energetic way to get the message out there.  I love the commitment I see to this cause on that website because it reminds me of my passion for making a difference.

The title of my article comes from a comment I saw on the site.  And it echoes my feelings exactly.  The stigma keeps us isolated and alone.  And we know simply from the numbers of people LIVING WITH mental illness that we really aren’t alone.  Thank you so much for the reminder, BringChange2Mind.