I posted yesterday on the question of whether we might reduce stigma by changing what we call mental health - as the term seems so loaded. In my sim89 guise, I asked my Twitter friends whether they thought this was a good idea. Here are their responses:
campbellclaret (Alastair Campbell): don't think so. Think we shd try to be as open re mental health as re physical health. No stigma in 'physical health'MarkOneinFour: Although language is important, it's the ideas behind it that really matter. It's better to work at understanding how stigma works.
shiftstigma: It'd be nice to think that one day we could just talk about 'health'
mentalcapital: other types discrimination are owned and reclaimed, not renamed...gender, race, LGBT don't change to suit the discriminator...
mentalcapital: 'behavioural health' shifts to individual's behaviour, not society. Unless it is the stigmatiser that has behavioural health problem!
shiftstigma: Don't know whether twitter is the best place for deep discussion, but that kicked off some really interesting 140chr debates. Thx!
Cheers everyone! I probably agree that it's not such a great plan but it was a useful experience to discuss it.
(Pic: Rex Features)
Watched Alastair Campbell on "This Week" tonight, and his comments reminded me of his interest in mental health issues. I have a son (31 yo) whom I have not spoken to for more than a year. Last contact was an email seven months ago. Neither his mother (my ex wife) nor I know where he is, although it could be somewhere in London. We think that he is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. Any suggestions where we go from here, if anywhere?