Why Be Open About Mental Illness?

HealthyPlace Mental Health Newsletter

Here's what's happening on the HealthyPlace site this week:

• Why Be Open About Mental Illness?
• Help Spread Awareness of Mental Illness
• Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans
• From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs
• Standing Up for Mental Health
• Latest Mental Health News

Why Be Open About Mental Illness?

Thank goodness there are people who are open about mental illness. People like Randye Kaye, author of our Mental Illness in the Family blog and the book, Ben Behind His Voices. Maybe people like you. I was very moved by Randye's video for the Stand Up for Mental Health Campaign. I hope you'll watch it. She discusses what being open about schizophrenia in the family has meant to her and the thousands of people she has touched through personal appearances, emails, her book and her blog.

Having a mental illness can be scary enough. Imagine, though, what it's like thinking you're the only one out there experiencing whatever you're going through. Or the only information you could find about depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, etc., is what your doctor, your child's doctor, your family member's doctor provided you in a 5-10 minute office visit. This is one of the dangers of mental health stigma. It keeps people in hiding. It keeps them from sharing not only what they're going through, but what they've learned from their experiences along the way. It's one of the reasons why the Stand Up for Mental Health Campaign is so important. HealthyPlace.com Founder and President, Gary Koplin, was on the Your Life After Trauma Radio Show recently discussing this very point.

<div style="width:320;" id="flashPlayerHtml_Stand Up for Mental Health Campaign Radio Interview" data-mce-style="width: 320;"><div id="playerHeader_Stand Up for Mental Health Campaign Radio Interview"><br /></div><div class="evocaFlashPlayer" id="div_Stand Up for Mental Health Campaign Radio Interview"> <img src="http://www.healthyplace.com/components/com_jce/editor/tiny_mce/plugins/media/img/trans.gif" width="320" height="20" class="mceItemObject mceItemFlash" data-mce-json="{"object":{"classid":"clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000","codebase":"http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,24,0","width":"320","height":"20","param":{"movie":"http://www.evoca.com/evocaPlayer/ev-pl-4x.swf","quality":"high","flashVars":"&file=https://s3.amazonaws.com/evocacom/5/1/1/8/9/1362593925876.mp3&playlist=none&playlistsize=0&v=4&plugins=http://www.evoca.com/evocaPlayer/ee-plugin.swf&skin=http://www.evoca.com/evocaPlayer/evoca-rounded-skin.swf&backcolor=0xffffff&frontcolor=0x000000&lightcolor=0x000000&screencolor=0x000000&logo=&defaultImage=&stretching=uniform&displayclick=play&autostart=false&repeat=false&shuffle=true&volume=80&title=What is the Stand Up for Mental Health Campaign About?&duration=1105&listenURL=http://www.evoca.com/lc.jsp?rid=291051"},"html":["\n\n ","\n\n "],"embed":{"src":"http://www.evoca.com/evocaPlayer/ev-pl-4x.swf","width":"320","height":"20","allowfullscreen":"true","allowscriptaccess":"always","flashvars":"&file=https://s3.amazonaws.com/evocacom/5/1/1/8/9/1362593925876.mp3&playlist=none&playlistsize=0&v=4&plugins=http://www.evoca.com/evocaPlayer/ee-plugin.swf&skin=http://www.evoca.com/evocaPlayer/evoca-rounded-skin.swf&backcolor=0xffffff&frontcolor=0x000000&lightcolor=0x000000&screencolor=0x000000&logo=&defaultImage=&stretching=uniform&displayclick=play&autostart=false&repeat=false&shuffle=true&volume=80&title=What is the Stand Up for Mental Health Campaign About?&duration=1105&listenURL=http://www.evoca.com/lc.jsp?rid=291051","movie":"http://www.evoca.com/evocaPlayer/ev-pl-4x.swf","quality":"high","flashVars":"&file=https://s3.amazonaws.com/evocacom/5/1/1/8/9/1362593925876.mp3&playlist=none&playlistsize=0&v=4&plugins=http://www.evoca.com/evocaPlayer/ee-plugin.swf&skin=http://www.evoca.com/evocaPlayer/evoca-rounded-skin.swf&backcolor=0xffffff&frontcolor=0x000000&lightcolor=0x000000&screencolor=0x000000&logo=&defaultImage=&stretching=uniform&displayclick=play&autostart=false&repeat=false&shuffle=true&volume=80&title=What is the Stand Up for Mental Health Campaign About?&duration=1105&listenURL=http://www.evoca.com/lc.jsp?rid=291051"},"data":"http://www.evoca.com/evocaPlayer/ev-pl-4x.swf"}}"></img> </div><div id="playerFooter_Stand Up for Mental Health Campaign Radio Interview"> <a href="http://www.healthyplace.com/stigma/stand-up-for-mental-health/stand-up-for-mental-health-buttons/" data-mce-href="stigma/stand-up-for-mental-health/stand-up-for-mental-health-buttons/">Join the Stand Up for Mental Health Campaign</a> </div> </div>

It is time to bring an end to mental health stigma. In 2013, people should not be ashamed they have a mental illness. They shouldn't be afraid to seek a proper diagnosis and treatment. It will take a lot more people, like Randye Kaye, to stand up and say "Enough!" Will you be one of them?

Related Articles

• Stand Up for Mental Health Campaign Homepage
• Join the Stand Up for Mental Health Campaign (website/blog buttons and social covers)
• Stigma and Discrimination: The Effect of Stigma
• Standing Up to Mental Health Stigma Stories

Your Thoughts

We receive many messages from people saying: "I have depression. My family is not only NOT supportive, they seem like they couldn't care less." Today's Question: Do you find yourself in a similar situation? What's that like? And how could that be turned around? We invite you to participate by commenting and sharing your feelings, experiences and knowledge on the HealthyPlace Facebook page.

Help Spread Awareness of Mental Illness

Get Our Mental Health Blog Widget

Over 200 sites and blogs are helping spread awareness of mental illness. How about putting our mental health blogs widget on your website, blog or social page? The latest HealthyPlace blog headlines appear as soon as the articles are posted on our site. Just click "Get Widget" at the bottom of the widget, grab the embed code and paste it into your page. You'll also see embed links for Wordpress, Blogger, Linkedin and other social sites there.

As a bonus, put the blogs widget on your site or blog, email us (info AT healthyplace.com) with a page link where it appears, and we'll give a shoutout to your site, blog, or social site on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

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Share our Stories

At the top and bottom of all our stories, you'll find social share buttons for Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest and other social sites. If you find a particular story, video, psychological test or other HealthyPlace feature helpful, there's a good chance others in need will too. Please share.

We also get many inquiries about our linking policy. If you have a website or blog, you can link to any page on the HealthyPlace website without asking us beforehand.

Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans

Here are the top 3 mental health articles HealthyPlace Facebook fans are recommending you read:

1. Get a Grip on Negative Thoughts with Distraction Skills
2. Morning Anxiety 101: Symptoms and Causes
3. Supporting Someone Who Has Been Raped or Sexually Assaulted

If you're not already, I hope you'll join us/like us on Facebook too. There are a lot of wonderful, supportive people there.

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Mental Health Experiences

Share your thoughts/experiences with any mental health subject, or respond to other people's audio posts, by calling our toll-free number (1-888-883-8045).

You can listen to what other people are saying by clicking on the gray title bars inside the widgets located on the "Sharing Your Mental Health Experiences" homepage, the HealthyPlace homepage, and the HealthyPlace Support Network homepage.

If you have any questions, write us at: info AT healthyplace.com

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From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

On all our blogs, your comments and observations are welcomed.

• A Mother’s Effect On Her Daughter’s Self-Esteem (Your Mental Health Blog)
• Today, I Will ___ Without Letting Fear Stop Me (Anxiety-Schmanxiety Blog)
• Rational vs. Irrational Fears About Bipolar Medication (Breaking Bipolar Blog)
• When Talk Therapy Fails To Heal PTSD (Trauma! A PTSD Blog)
• 5 Steps To Building Self-Esteem (Building Self-Esteem Blog)
• When Friends Don’t Accept Your Mental Illness (Surviving Mental Health Stigma Blog)
• Why is Recovering From Mental Illness So Difficult? (Recovering From Mental Illness Blog)
• When Mental Illness Hits the Family: Things to Remember (Mental Illness in the Family Blog)
• Conversations: 6 Mental Illness Advocacy Tips (p2) (Life with Bob Blog)
• Out at Work: LGBT Mental Health in the Workplace (The Life: LGBT Mental Health and Relationships Blog)
• Credibility and BPD: The Assumption of Lying (More Than Borderline Blog)
• Narcissistic, Sociopathic or Plain Abusive? (Verbal Abuse and Relationships Blog)
• National Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2013 (Surviving ED Blog)
• The Wrong Goodbye, Grieving For The Loss Of Mental Illness (Funny in the Head: A Mental Health Humor Blog)
• The Spectacles of Schizophrenia (Creative Schizophrenia Blog)
• Addiction Recovery: It’s Not Just About The Drug (Debunking Addiction Blog)
• Adult ADHD Relationships and Planning for Change (Living with Adult ADHD Blog)
• Healthy Alternatives to Self-Injury (Speaking Out About Self-Injury Blog)
• Depression Can Be A Mental Workout (Coping with Depression Blog)

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of any blog post. And visit the mental health blogs homepage for the latest posts.

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Standing Up for Mental Health

Like A Breath of Fresh Air

Don't tolerate mental health stigma in your life. Stand Up for Yourself. Stand Up for Mental Health. Join the Stand Up for Mental Health campaign. Put a button on your website or blog (buttons for family members, parents, mental health professionals and organizations too). We also have covers for Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

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Latest Mental Health News

These stories and more are featured on our mental health news page:

• This Story Stinks: The Impact of Online Reader Comments
• The Happy Warrior Meets the Obsessive Competitor
• How Offices Become Complaint Departments
• Dangerous Dreamers: Can a Sleep Disorder Explain a Murder or Suicide?
• The Dangers of Self-Diagnosis
• Do You Plan for the Future?
• Mapping Stress: Who Suffers Most?
• People With Mental Illness At Highly Increased Risk Of Being Murder Victims
• PTSD Commonly Follows Breast Cancer Diagnosis
• Factors That Impact Adolescent Mental Health
• Treating Substance Abuse Alone Helps Patients with Co-occurring Psychosis
• Foreign-born Adoptees Most at Risk for Psychiatric Disorders
• Bipolar Disorder Patients Avoid Rewarding Activities

That's it for now. If you know of anyone who can benefit from this newsletter or the HealthyPlace.com site, I hope you'll pass this onto them. You can also share the newsletter on any social network (like facebook, stumbleupon, or digg) you belong to by clicking the links below. For updates throughout the week:

• circle HealthyPlace on Google+,
• follow HealthyPlace on Twitter
• follow HealthyPlace on Pinterest
• or become a fan of HealthyPlace on Facebook.

back to: HealthyPlace.com Mental-Health Newsletter Index