The 13 editions of Bell Let’s Talk have helped reduce stigma and self-stigma, while giving many people the courage to seek help. It’s quite an achievement, but taboos still contribute to reducing the life expectancy of people living with a mental health disorder by 10 to 25 years. (1).
In 2016, I was named the Face of Mental Illness by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health and a Bell Let’s Talk Ambassador. I told my story, but I didn’t dare to tell everything.
It was then easier to talk about anxiety and depression, but I had also talked about bipolarity with my episodes of psychosis, mania (state of intense elation), paranoia and hallucinations. To avoid the consequences of stigmatization, relatives had advised me not to mention the exceptional measures that had to be imposed on me, such as confinement in an establishment, isolation and restraint. Talking about it for the first time arouses my fears, because it may arouse yours. These events do not define me, they allowed me to walk and I hope that telling them will help us move forward. And I know that my journey could have been even more perilous and more stigmatizing.
“Do not prejudge the prejudices of others”: a motto to dare to reveal myself. Through fabulous encounters and help, I tamed mental illness through the winding journey of recovery by gaining new knowledge and skills. This valuable “experiential knowledge” is used in particular by peer helpers.
Breaking down taboos also means sharing hopeful aspects such as the abandonment of my career as an actuary to give meaning to my recovery, the trust that employers have shown me and my “relative” comfort in my life. identify in my workplace as a person living with a mental health disorder.
Perhaps this will help the effort of the Ministry of Health and Human Services (2) to reduce the institutional stigma that persists within health services.
Because “I am a person, not a disease” (3), I also want to talk about my well-being and the joys of winter, my walks with my spouse, my dog who dances with happiness, my son who prepares supper to ease my start in a new job, the puzzle received from my grandson, my travels, my friend who came to dinner, my new Pilates class and unique moments singing with my parents. The life of a person with bipolar disorder isn’t just about ups and downs like on TV shows – my life can be pretty mundane, believe me!
Don’t judge anyone until you have walked in their shoes, they say. While some shoes may feel like climbing a mountain with lead soles, hold out hope that beyond the mountains there may be sunshine.
Today and throughout the year, let’s deconstruct taboos one by one and break the glass ceiling of stigma.
* Stéphanie Fontaine is a senior advisor for innovative mental health projects in the public health network, M.Sc. public health, mother, spouse, sister, daughter and friend
(3) Source: Luc Vigneault, author and peer helper