Hi everyone! If you don’t already know me by now, my name is Bri, I work in Wellness Operations here at Project Passport, and I would like to welcome you to my blog series! 

This series is based on mental health within the community, how we perceive mental health and related struggles, along with what we can do as a community to promote mental health and fight the surrounding stigma. 

This month (and the next), we will be focusing on the community’s answers to the question of how mental health is stigmatized within our society and what we can do on an individual level to fight that stigma. Here is what some of the wonderful members of our community had to say about this topic:

“Mental health is stigmatized as something that is embarrassing. Oftentimes people would rather not talk about mental health because they don't want anyone to know it exists. If mental health is not discussed somehow, it would miraculously go away or maybe not even exist. This is a very dangerous way to handle mental health because the person who is suffering mentally may very well harm himself/herself or someone else. What we can do as an individual is open up more about mental health and try to ensure others that it is not an embarrassment but a situation that should not be ignored. There is help available for those in need and help or support for those who need assistance in dealing with someone suffering from mental health. Don't ignore this condition. Understand that it is not an embarrassment that is so important.” Cassola, Retired School Teacher 

“When a mass shooter is white, we say they were struggling with their mental health. When they are not white, we call them terrorists or thugs. Why the double standard? Because capitalism, a system that disincentivizes community and kindness, is maintained through white supremacy. We live in a system that prioritizes profits for a few off the labor and exploitation of the many. Our environments are being destroyed, there are few free or easy ways to come together, and the people who have the power to easily make a change listen to lobbyists instead. Sure, there are ways to cope with the way things are on an individual level, but poor mental health is a natural reaction to our reality. The only way to actually heal is to get to the root cause of the issue. We need to change the system.” Salimah, Project Passport Retreat Leader & Analyst

“I think mental health is stigmatized in society through the constant visibility of social media depicting that you either have to be "fine" or that you can go through something but just for a short while then you definitely have to be "fine". And thriving. Otherwise, you're failing. The more we can seek out people who are open to telling their story in order to give us space to tell ours, the more we can break down these barriers and unveil that life is not the fairytale social media makes it out to be. Representation matters. Sometimes we just need to see someone willing to take up space in order to breathe confidence into ourselves that we are allowed to take up space too.” Dessi, Motivational Speaker & Author

“I feel like the stigma of Mental Health is an issue because people continue to treat it like it’s something to be afraid of. Every single one of us has mental health, and we’re constantly on a spectrum of where we are at any given time. We look at the worst-case scenarios of people, and then we assume that that defines the mental health experience. We have no idea all the factors that got that person there. It’s important that we really focus on the preventative piece, and that starts with breaking the stigma. People treat mental health as any other part of our body. We must maintain ourselves!” Sabriya, Founder of Project Passport

Make sure to join us next month to hear what more members have to say about the stigma of mental health within our society and how we can overcome these obstacles with part two of this article series!

Have a great rest of your month, and see you next time!