Media Influences

So, I,'m looking at the BBC news site this morning and I find a local article entitled 'Plan to free psychotic killer.' Another example of the media's need to equate homicidal tendencies with mental illness. I read the article and there seems to be an implication that releasing this man would be a mistake. Funny, isn't it how if you don't have a mental illness you serve a sentence and then are released without any media fuss. And I thought that campaigns, like Time to Change, were helping to reduce stigma for people with mental illness!

Clearing Madness

So, it's that time of the year when students get their A level results and the battle for uni places begins. There have been stories in the media about A grade students not getting the place they had hoped for. My concern is the importance that is placed on the only future being the one where a student gets the grades they desire and the university of their choice. It is a lot of pressure to put young people under at the start of their future. Some break under the strain and we inevitably hear of students who consider suicide because the alternative future is not the one they had planned. I also see failing students here who feel that they have let themselves and others down if they do not achieve what is somehow subliminally expected of them. I try to tell them that maybe there is a different future ahead or a new path to travel but it is difficult for them to see. My past has not been one of A levels, a university degree and a glittering career. Some of it involved surviving on benefits with two young children. However, I would not change my past as it has made me what I am now. I have a job I enjoy that is rewarding. Maybe we can only appreciate the future we have when it becomes the past we learnt from. I leave you with this quote.

'What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us'

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do you want to make a difference?

Do you have a view about mental illness? Does stigma concern you? Maybe you think that we should all be looking after our mental health. If you want to get involved in a group in Bedfordshire that aims to be a voice for mental well being then follow the link below.

http://madforwellbeing.com/index.html

The site also has a list of events throughout the year in which you may want to participate. Follow the blog, or follow the group on facebook

http://www.facebook.com/pages/MAD-For-Wellbeing/129448107132687

and twitter

http://www.twitter.com/#!/MADForWellbeing