Mental Illness: Stigma of Silence
The Huffington Post – October 21, 2009
Summary: In an article in The Huffington Post, award-winning actress Glenn Close talks about the stigma of mental illness. Close’s own family has been deeply affected by mental illness: her sister suffers from bipolar disorder and her nephew from schizo-affective disorder. She writes, “There has, in fact, been a lot of depression and alcoholism in my family and, traditionally, no one ever spoke about it. It just wasn’t done. The stigma is toxic.” Despite progress with medicine and therapy to treat mental illness, the social stigma remains intact. What our society needs is more openness, candor and conversation about mental illness. We need to promote the understanding that many people, given the right treatment, can be full participants in our society. Close has started a non-profit organization, BringChange2Mind, to encourage open discussion about mental illness and to break through the silence and fear.