In my head
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Transcript of In my head
In my headFiona Kennedy, Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers
Background
● About me
● Depression
● Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers
● Borderline personality disorder (Bitchface)
Stigma
‘…..a cluster of negative attitudes and beliefs that motivate the general public to fear, reject, avoidand discriminate against people with mental ill
health’(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 2004)
Self imposed stigma
● Ashamed
● Embarrassed
Bitchface/BPD
● Not a real illness
BPD & unhelpful thinking styles I
● Mental filter
● Emotional reasoning
● Personalisation
● Jumping to conclusions
● Bottom line? Never, ever good enough
BPD & unhelpful thinking styles II
All feed into self imposed stigma● people looking at me - filters● talking about me - conclusions● everyone knows everything - catastrophising● don’t want to accept allowances being made for
me, eg work, with friends, but at times they’re necessary
Reality?
Everyone has something!!
Language
● Does the language we use to talk about mental illness perpetuate stigma? - eg, I suffer from depression/bpd etc
● Do we suffer from diabetes? Asthma?● In using different language for mental illness, are
we setting it apart from physical illness, more than necessary??
Breaking down barriers
● slow, frustrating
● becomes a talking point for a few days eg GAA
players, Robin Williams, but then silence again
● Messy - far easier to promote awareness of
something visible and tangible
● People fear what they don’t understand
See Change
● Ambassador● Green ribbon campaign: May 2014*
o over 500 events and iniativeso 300,000 green ribbons distributedo over 1 million conversations startedo 66% state encouraged to start a conversationo 62% hearing conversations among family & friendso 53% hearing conversations on the workplace
*See Change Green Ribbon Impact Report 2014
Community Change
Locally organised eventsStamp out Stigma Mayfly 10k NUI Galway
Other Initiatives
● Cycle against suicideo raise awarenesso offer reassurance - ok to ask for helpo direct towards help
● Pieta House Darkness into Lighto fundraisingo awareness
● Turn2me.org, Aware, let’s not forget Grow!
Sunny spells and scattered showers
Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers
● Blog: impact on family and friendso awareness
o freedom to talk (if feel able)
● One conversation leads to another - people are
more open
● Caveat: the neat ‘start-middle-end’ story
● A work in progress, sometimes messy, but me!
Fiona Kennedy
Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers
http://tinyurl.com/sunnyscattered