Is stigma shrinking?

There seems to be a giant question mark hanging over the issue of mental health stigma and whether or not celebrities can do anything about it. It seems obvious, to me, that the awareness of mental health as a medical problem (and not a social one) has improved vastly over the last number of years. In May 2011, Paste Magazine wrote an article on 10 Brilliant Musicians Who've Battled Mental Illness opening with "Mental illness and creative brilliance often go hand and hand, particularly when it comes to music." Syd Barrett and Ian Curtis were included in the ranks. It strikes me as a massively different approach to Robbie Williams acknowledging his depression in 2003 where there was still the excuse that it was ecstasy-induced (now deemed to be ecstasy-related with various other contributors). Alternatively, take the difference between Kurt Cobain and Robbin Williams, I can't find anything Cobain had to say on the matter while both died in relation to their respective depressions.

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Mental health awareness is exceptional at this point with America devoting all of May to be Mental Health Awareness Month. The UK acknowledges Mental Health Awareness Week at some point in May, too (11th-17th May 2015). Here, in Ireland, we recognise the global Mental Health Awareness Day (October 10th) and, although we're greatly lacking in our insight, a fantastic organisation called Cycle Against Suicide work alongside secondary schools to educate teenagers about the plague of mental illness. We are also aware of the green ribbon and see this on TV.

HSE.ie via youtube.com

Now that the medical issue is being acknowledged, is it being dealt with? In the USA, states had cut mental health budgets by a collective ​$4.35 billion and cut more than 3,222 psychiatric beds  between 2009 and 2012 (while Alaska, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Carolina and Wyoming cut funding in 2013 and 2014, too). The charity Mind describe the UK's spending on mental health "unacceptably low" as their report found a mere 1.4% of public health budget was spent on mental health. A short way across the sea, the Irish government has failed to make up for a €15m shortfall (from the '14 budget) in the 2015 budget.

I am of the opinion that ending mental health stigma will enable us to demand more care from our various governments and be taken seriously. I think stigma will be weeded out over generations. I believe we have a world of youth where it's neither cool nor uncool to struggle with mental health, it's just like breaking your leg or having your appendix out. I see twitter accounts of teenagers struggling and empathetically supporting other struggling teenagers with several thousand followers each. I see young adults concerned for their friends regardless of the nature of their illness. The only person I've ever met who looks down on mental illness is a 51 year old man who employs me happily, ignorant of my diagnosis.

So, yes. I genuinely believe that celebrities standing up against stigma is helping immensely. Don't agree? Look how upset and in touch with feelings we all got over Robin Williams. We do all care, really.

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