Speaking publicly about your own mental illness is a brave thing to do. Whether or not you love or loathe him (me, I love him) Stephen Fry has really been the human face of bipolar disorder (at least in the UK) for years. If Stephen sharing his story and experiences encourages one person to get help, then he has helped save a life.
I suffered from depression in the past, I was on anti-depressants and had counselling. I was on the mild side of mental health issues. I learnt a lot about me and what my triggers are. I know my coping mechanisms. When I worked in the MoJ, the staff magazine was running an article on mental health issues (it was an awareness month). I helped the magazine staff as I worked in diversity and knew about the MoJ policies and it ended up with a short article about me and my depression. I was offered anonymity, but said no. Publish my name because I have nothing to hide and am not ashamed that I needed professional help at one point in my life.
What I didn't expect was the inbox full of emails from staff who had depression and other mental health issues saying how brave I was, or that since the article, they were telling their line management about their mental health issues because they weren't so scared.
I was just a civil servant in a first line management position at the time. Now think about the impact Stephen Fry's story will have. I spoke to the staff rag about pills and counselling, and appropriate workplace support. Stephen Fry spoke about suicide and the lows of bipolar disorder. Now that is brave.
I suffered from depression in the past, I was on anti-depressants and had counselling. I was on the mild side of mental health issues. I learnt a lot about me and what my triggers are. I know my coping mechanisms. When I worked in the MoJ, the staff magazine was running an article on mental health issues (it was an awareness month). I helped the magazine staff as I worked in diversity and knew about the MoJ policies and it ended up with a short article about me and my depression. I was offered anonymity, but said no. Publish my name because I have nothing to hide and am not ashamed that I needed professional help at one point in my life.
What I didn't expect was the inbox full of emails from staff who had depression and other mental health issues saying how brave I was, or that since the article, they were telling their line management about their mental health issues because they weren't so scared.
I was just a civil servant in a first line management position at the time. Now think about the impact Stephen Fry's story will have. I spoke to the staff rag about pills and counselling, and appropriate workplace support. Stephen Fry spoke about suicide and the lows of bipolar disorder. Now that is brave.
No comments:
Post a Comment