Mental Health Notes

Statistics Have Already Let Your Little Secret Out Of The Box

by Alicia Sparks, NAMI Affiliation Leader on March 21st, 2008

I spent a pretty decent amount of time trying to think of a clever way to begin this post, but it’s apparent the only way to begin it is to just come right out with it:

Yesterday, I felt the weight of mental health stigma like never before.

Yesterday a local health and fitness center hosted its annual community health fair at which health-related organizations from all over the county set up booths with information about their services, freebies, and drawings for door prizes. My state’s NAMI Community Family Outreach Coordinator sets a booth up each year, and because this is the first year the county has had an active NAMI support group during the time of the health fair, I was there, too, promoting our local NAMI affiliation and handing out flyers with an overall introduction to our group, the dates, times, and locations of our meetings, and contact information.

Well, trying to hand out flyers. Most people either politely declined, “forgot them” on the table before leaving, handed them to someone else once they made their way across the room, or simply threw them away.

Now, don’t misunderstand. I didn’t walk across the room cramming my flyers into people’s hands. Actually, I didn’t offer the flyers to anyone who wasn’t already at our table eating our free candy and pretending to look at our booklets and pamphlets about various mental illnesses in order to continue eating our free candy (booklets and pamphlets, I should point out, that they treated in the same manner they treated my flyers).

Those folks who did talk to us about mental health (and not just pass by to pick up our free candy) had the following things to say when we offered them flyers and informational booklets and pamphlets:

• “Oh, no thanks, I don’t need them.” (This, after telling me their doctors had spoken with them about possible depression and anxiety disorders.)
• “My husband would kill me if he knew I’d told his [OCD-related] secrets to a stranger!”
• “I’m not crazy.” (One man even emphasized this by running his fingers up and down his lips while blowing air out of his mouth.)

My NAMI Community Family Outreach Coordinator assured me that this was completely typical of any health fair she’d ever attended. Lots of folks don’t want to be seen at the mental health table for fear that a) someone might think they know someone with a mental illness, or b) someone might think that they themselves have a mental illness.

I’ve got news, people. One out of every four adults in America has a diagnosable mental illness during any given year. Do the math. The statistics have already let your little secret out of the box: Chances are high that you at least know someone with a mental illness.

And the world continues to properly spin on its axis.

The fair wasn’t a complete flop. (Actually, it wasn’t really a flop at all - my skin just isn’t as thick yet, so it disappointed me more.) A small handful of people did take our information, and I networked with the folks who host our local Alzheimer’s support group.

I suppose I just expected more from a community health fair, especially one that was hosted in a health and fitness center; rather, I expected more from the people who went out of their ways to attend a health fair hosted in a health and fitness center. I mean, it’s not like we were set up in the middle of the mall shouting with bull horns about the importance of paying attention to your brain.

Maybe that’ll be my next endeavor.

I’m not bitter, just disappointed. I’m always disappointed (and sometimes enraged, though, not this time) when I see the effects stigma has on society.

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The above image is owned by psd and used under these Creative Commons attributions.

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POSTED IN: Current Affairs & News, Rants & Raves, Volunteer, stigma