Going Public, Breaking Stigma: The Mental Hospital Cartoon
When you go public about something that’s not usually public, people open up to you in a a different way. After I published the blogs in Depression: The Mini-Series about the gritty details of my depression, my swing into mania and recovery, a small wave of people reached out to me. I’d been in a writer’s group years before with Heather, and when she called right after a blog posted and asked to talk, my first guess was that someone she loved was struggling with mental illness.
You know what they say about assumptions. Turns out, Heather works for the University of Kentucky College of Nursing’s BH WELL program. She thought my story would translate into a terrific video for their blog – was I interested?
As Amy Poehler would say, YES, PLEASE. Thanks to the hard work of the BH WELL team, with a special shout out to the talents of artist Michele G, the story of my unexpected stay in the psychiatric hospital is now animated and live on the inter webs. Give it a watch here! And if you enjoy it, I’d love it if you could give it a share.
Big thank you’s to Heather Robertson, Michele G, and the whole BH WELL team for putting your love, care and belief behind this one very real story of a UK alum. I hope this video delivers one more blow toward destroying the toxic stigma around mental health. If you struggle with mental health too, hopefully something in this helps you feel less alone. If mental health is pretty smooth sailing for you – dammit, am I jealous. Kidding, kidding….. what I mean is, this goes out to y’all too, with my big hopes that it brings you both entertainment and insight.
