Employers aren't supposed to discriminate against people with mental illness. In fact, it's often against the law. Yet it happens, so what do we do about it when it does? In Canada, provincial human rights legislation requires equal rights and opportunities for people with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups. People with mental and physical disabilities … Continue reading Mental Illness and Employment Discrimination
NIMBYism is a fascinating phenomenon. NIMBYs, or people think that something is okay just as long as it's Not In My BackYard, cover discrimination with a thin veneer of civility and acceptability. Among the many manifestations of this is with regards to social housing, including supported housing for people with mental illness. NIMBYs' arguments may … Continue reading NIMBYism and mental health housing
Like so many other things in this world, race shouldn't be an issue when it comes to mental health, but it is. I'm not talking about biological effects associated with race like genetic susceptibilities to certain illnesses, but rather the impact of socially imposed ideas about race, and the lack of equality that results. To … Continue reading Where race and mental health collide
As a nurse in my province (British Columbia, Canada), if I am hospitalized for mental illness then the provincial Health Professions Act requires the hospital to report me to the nursing regulatory college, and the college must treat this as a complaint about my fitness to practice. This ends up with being offering the non-choice … Continue reading Doing My Bit in the Fight Against Stigma
I saw a post about this issue on Twitter recently, and it stirred up a pretty strong reaction for me. A man was writing about how he'd been advocating for his child to be able to have their cell phone on the psych ward, but this was flatly denied due to ward policy. As a … Continue reading Cell phones on psych wards – yea or nay?
Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse is a documentary, available on Amazon Prime, about a man with schizophrenia who was killed by police in Portland, Oregon. This film was funded by The Mental Health Association of Portland and over 1500 individual supporters, which I thought was pretty impressive. It's an extremely disturbing example … Continue reading Alienation and brutality
Today is International Women's Day, and the theme for this year's theme is #BalanceforBetter. To me, feminism is about tearing down the gender norms and stereotypes that divide us and marginalize people who don't fit into certain boxes. This is not about sameness, because we are all unique, although as human beings there is more … Continue reading International Women’s Day: Balance for Better
Stigma can be found in many places, even places where we might like to think it shouldn't be. One such place where I have found it is in government legislation, hence the title of this post, "legislated stigma". As a registered nurse, my professional license is through the College of Registered Nurses of my Canadian … Continue reading Legislated stigma