Mental Health Awareness Week: There Is Still So Much Work To Be Done

It’s mental health awareness week and I wish there was more awareness about mental illnesses that remain highly stigmatised, like psychosis, OCD and schizophrenia. Because there are still so many people afraid to talk about their experiences due to stigma and shame.

I would like mental health awareness week to include conversations about what it’s like to hear voices, to experience delusions and hallucinations, and to have intrusive thoughts of harmful or sexual content. The things people are still afraid to talk about.

When will it be okay for people to admit to hearing voices that demand you harm yourself? When will it be okay for people to admit to experience distressing intrusive thoughts of harming others? When will those people feel able to share their stories without repercussions?

We have awareness about mental health now, which is a good thing. But there are still so many people afraid of what others would think if they heard the voices they hear or saw the thoughts inside their heads. There is still so much work to be done in reducing stigma.

Too many people are still afraid to talk about their experiences - of hearing voices, of Harm OCD, of experiencing hallucinations and delusions. We still need awareness and we need understanding and we need conversations around the illnesses and experiences that remain heavily stigmatised and misunderstood.

Some resources:

Scottish Action for Mental Health resource on ‘Understanding Psychosis’ here.

MIND webpage ‘About Psychosis’ here.

NOCD webpage ‘Harm OCD: Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment’ here.

Living with Schizophrenia ‘Stigma in Schizophrenia’ here.

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