Reframing Mental Health | To raise awareness and reduce stigma surrounding mental health conditions

Project Team:

Matilda Webb

Status:

New Idea

Social Purpose

Good Health & Wellbeing

What is the problem you found?

How might we raise awareness and educate young people on mental health conditions?

Customer / Problem

There is a lack of awareness and education for a variety of mental health conditions. Although awareness for conditions such as anxiety and depression has increased over the years, there are still many other conditions that are not discussed. This perpetuates existing stigma surrounding these conditions, as they are often misunderstood in wider society. Conditions such as: 

  • ASD (autism spectrum disorder)
  • ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder) 
  • Varying eating disorders 
  • OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)
  • Bipolar
  • BPD (borderline personality disorder)
  • Schizophrenia
  • DID (dissociative identity disorder) 
  • PTSD and C-PTSD (complex post traumatic stress disorder) 

 

Even with more well known conditions, many people are uneducated on the intersections between mental health and other things such as race, religion, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status, first gen and second gen immigrants, physical disability and more. All of these things impact the way in which people experience mental health, and the way in which they live with their mental illnesses. It is these unique experiences in which our organization hopes to share in order to help decrease stigma surrounding these conditions, and to educate the wider public on intersectionality regarding mental health. 

What Is Your Solution?

Our organization aims to be an organization that holds monthly panels run by medical health professionals, and educated individuals who wish to share their experiences with mental health. These monthly panels will be a safe space for people to not only ask questions and educate themselves on mental health conditions, but to also share their stories in an inclusive and non discriminatory environment. 

We also aim to educate on intersectionality and the effects it has on living with mental illness. Even though two people may have the same condition, there is a large chance that they experience their condition in vastly different ways. This chance grows even more when factoring in aspects of an individuals identity such as race, religion, gender, sexuality, culture, socio-economic status, physical disabilities etc. We hope to have individuals that can talk about their mental health experiences in relation to these aforementioned things in order to help spread awareness, and create an inclusive environment. 

Once the organization has a stronger footing, we aim to expand to hold panels and perform speeches at local schools/ educational facilities, places of employment, and a range of events. This allows people with mental health conditions to have a chance to speak about their unique experience in order to decrease stigma, raise awareness and educate the wider public. 

We hope to hold showcases in which people with mental health conditions will have the opportunity to showcase their passions. This may be in the form of selling art, performing music or dance, selling other products, or promoting an upcoming project. This aids in empowering those who experience mental health conditions, whilst promoting their passions and businesses. These showcases may be held at both the monthly safe space panels and sessions, as well as perhaps later on at other existing events. We have attached some promotional posters as ideas for promoting a hypothetical art showcase!

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Program

AEG Holiday Program January 2021

Region

State

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