24/7 Hotlines: Call or text 988 or text 741741

Media Room

Check out the latest features and share your news, artwork, poems, or videos.

Stigma

Hi, my name’s Vered and I’ve been so proud to work on this website for the past year!  This website is everything I’ve been looking for and talking about since I first started navigating the system, trying to get help for my depression and PTSD.

I’ve been totally open with my parents and friends about being in recovery and being an advocate for mental health, and they’ve been very supportive.  But the other day, my mom told me something that just sucked.  She said, “Just be careful, you don’t want those lunatics ruining the forum.”  (I added the italics)  I mean, really?  After all of our conversations, she’s still using that word?

To be fair, I know that she wasn’t referring to us—people in recovery and people dealing with mental health issues.  I know she was referring to people who actively promote stigma, trolls who go out of their way to join any discussion and make it toxic.  But…did she really have to use that word to describe them?


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.