DBSA calls upon society to more sensitively address mental health
DBSA advocates for positive representations of people living with mood disorders throughout society. Our education, outreach, and support of peer empowerment works to reinforce tolerance and equity. Through our monthly e-update and website, DBSA showcases empowering stories of individuals whose lives have been touched but not limited by a mood disorder via the Life Unlimited and I’m Living Proof series. These vehicles along with social media have been used during Minority Mental Health Month to bring broader awareness to under-served communities.
But there is more we can do. Discrimination grows out of stigma and may be either readily apparent or subtle. Stigma contributes to exclusion, poor social support, social isolation, loneliness, and low self-esteem. Having to overcome stigma and discrimination are unneeded obstacles to achieving wellness, and that must be changed.
DBSA recognizes multiple components comprise stigma and are beyond the ability of legislative action to correct. Yet, we believe the media and lawmakers have a particular responsibility to embrace these principles. This includes educating the public to decrease stigma and make it easier for people with mood disorders to ask for and receive the help they need.
Read the DBSA position paper: Stigma and Discrimination to learn how DBSA will continue to support and promote anti-discrimination programs that addresses all types of societal stigma and how we will call upon the media and our government to support those efforts.
Please forward to colleagues, family, and friends to assist us in this grassroots effort to make our voice heard.
To continue to receive communications about issues that support access to quality mental health care,
DBSA advocates are front and center in the fight against stigma
Advocacy can take many forms. In September, Melinda Hasbrouck, DBSA advocate, shared her lived experience as a member of a panel in front of hundreds of other advocates at the National Council for Behavioral Health’s Hill Day in Washington, D.C.
Hill Day provides hundreds of peers, family members, providers, and community stakeholders access to sessions and workshops on federal behavioral health policy, followed by visits with their elected officials on Capitol Hill to advocate for better resources for mental health and substance use disorder treatment across the country.
Past years’ Hill Day participants have played a crucial role in securing congressional support for the Excellence in Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Expansion Act, funding for Mental Health First Aid, and much more! With 20 national partner organizations, Hill Day is the largest behavioral health advocacy event of the year.
Hill Day 2020 is June 23-24, so mark your calendar!
Please forward to colleagues, family, and friends to assist us in this grassroots effort to make our voice heard.
To continue to receive communications about issues that support access to quality mental health care,
