Building mental wellness on a foundation of strength
Recently, I came across a post that was a myths vs. facts type deal on mental illness stigma. One of the myths identified was that people with mental illness are disabled. The blogger's response was that on some days, mental illness could make it harder to work for some people, but there are also people… Continue reading Is It Helpful to Sanitize Mental Illness?
An open letter to the Hon. Judy Darcy, British Columbia Minister of Mental Health and Addictions I'm writing to express my dismay that it appears that the Government of British Columbia does not intend to take advantage of the modernization of the Health Professions Act to remove section 32(3), which stigmatizes health professionals with a… Continue reading Stigma Enshrined in Law: An Open Letter to BC’s Minister of Mental Health and Addictions
I'm pretty active on Pinterest, and sometimes I'll create new pins related to older blog posts. Recently, I created a pin asking whether people in mental health crisis should be handcuffed, and linked to a post I'd done on that topic and the stigma inherent in it. Once in a blue moon I'll get a… Continue reading There’s a Name For That — It’s Stigma
On our nation's birthday**, I thought it would be fun to look at a few stereotypes about Canadians. We live in igloos. It takes skill to build an igloo, especially if you don't want the roof to collapse. It also takes snow, which we don't have year-round. Inuit people in Canada's north will sometimes build… Continue reading Happy Canada Day!
I've seen ableism being mentioned on Twitter a number of times lately, and aside from the obvious meaning, it wasn't a concept I was all that familiar with in a mental health context. This post will explore what ableism means for psychiatric disabilities. Defining ableism An article on the Center for Disability Rights website describes… Continue reading Ableism: The Assumptions People Make About Ability (and Disability)
They may not be politically correct, but the terms psycho killers and psychotic killers get tossed around rather freely. Sometimes people will assume that to do horrific things people must be psychotic. But is that accurate? The notion that behaviours that make no sense must come from psychosis may originate from a few different mistaken… Continue reading Are “Psycho Killers” Psychotic?
People tend to fear the unknown. Psychosis is arguably the group of symptoms that the average person finds the most frightening when it comes to mental health problems. There is stigma associated with many/most/all mental health conditions, but psychosis kicks it up a notch. What psychosis is As a quick explanation, psychosis refers to a… Continue reading Why Psychosis Scares People
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