When you’ve written every day/other day for abt 3yrs straight, & the “powers that be” decide to shut you down for a wk+ (w/o explanation), it gives your mind some time to breathe & refocus.
So, as the slide says: We’ve only just begun.
When you get into a space trying to bring abt change (bc the current system failed you & many you love), ya know it’s not gonna be easy. Theo (who’s been in this space for 13yrs now), said to me on day 1: “The first ones thru the wall always get bloodied.”
In saying that, we’re not looking for martyrdom or pats on the back. But rather, to give an explanation as to why we get bloodied.
So many of you have followed for a long time & we’re so appreciative. There are also many new folks who haven’t heard the top-line as recently, so here goes:
We don’t believe mental health is limited to “1in5 w mental illness”…we believe it’s “5in5 whose MH has been impacted.”
We don’t believe we can “stop the stigma” by yelling at the top of our lungs for “this other group of ppl to ‘STOP stigmatizing’ those of us affected.” Instead we actually stop stigma by sharing our stories – the challenges we ALL face in life. The impacts that are common & relatable. That erodes stigma way faster than telling anyone to stop anything ever will.
We believe change requires a large team of ppl, all rowing in the same direction: doctors, researchers, athletes, celebs, advocates, everyday folks, business leaders. A few large voices can be silenced (we’ve seen this recently). But an army of ppl & programs can’t. It’s why we have many “alliances” & not a singular Board.
We believe that a team needs to have “boots on the ground,” educating for change. When we educate, these social channels & their propaganda means very little. First hand knowledge to think beyond system msgs is power.
Just the surface level, above, but this is why we get bloodied…why we get suppressed…& even blocked. Consider this: it’s MH Awareness Month & they blocked a MH charity that’s never broken rules…never sold anything.
Doing things the same old way – just yelling louder, doesn’t reverse negative trends.
Change is needed. We can promise you no matter what these social companies do to these accounts – we’ve built a team large enough now, that’s global, that will never stop fighting for change. It’s why we love those of you who follow along. You know we are different. You know we don’t say the cliche things…we don’t glorify disorder labels & tell others “they’ll never understand.” Instead, we work together. And bc OF those differences, you feel engaged & an integral part of the change we’re all working towards. So thank you for sticking w us. Thanks for continuing to talk & advocate & read & follow & share. As a group, we have way more power than any companies benefitting from silencing us & keeping things the same.
