I would hope most people reading this already know how important this topic is. With that said, my discussion may not cover all of the reasons you personally would include; so I encourage you to continue the discussion in the comments. My purpose here is to one, help those of you who don’t yet understand why writing and reading about mental health is so critical; and two, to encourage you to write about your own experiences if you have a story of your own to tell.
In the weekly HerStory memoir-writing workshop I attend we talk about a concept called “The Stranger Reader.” The Stranger Reader is this concept of any random person reading your book from a completely different perspective from yours. The idea is that you should always write with the “Stranger Reader” in mind, understanding that there will always be someone reading your book who thinks differently than you do. What are you going to do to change their mind? How will you use your experience to connect with someone different than you?
I believe this imaginary person is the number one reason to keep writing about mental health and our traumatic experiences with it. We cannot assume that everyone has either experienced what we have, or known someone who has. A significant reason our mental health system is so deeply flawed, in my opinion, is because not enough people really understand (or care) about what people actually experience.
What do you mean? You might be asking. I care. Sure, but do you care when your colleague is being forced medications at an involuntary hold at a psych ward? Do you care when your loved one is too anxious to make your lunch date? Do you care when a stranger is shouting in public at voices nobody else can hear? Do you really care? I’m ashamed to say I haven’t always been the one to care, either.
This has to change. So many people continue to be victimized by our mental health system by varying degrees—whether it’s through forced treatment, lack of treatment, or outdated, harmful treatment—and we either pretend not to or refuse to see it. Our “stranger reader” continues, even today, to stigmatize those of us labeled with mental health diagnosis and therefore find us less credible. Those of us who have experienced trauma at the hands of our mental illness or the mental health system must continue to write to expose the hard truths and injustices people around us suffer from every day. Those of us who haven’t need to sit down and read from writers who challenge our preexisting beliefs about mental health.
Our writing on mental health also needs to reach other people suffering from similar trauma. Depression (amongst other things) tricks you into believing, regardless of what people around you tell you (professionals, loved ones, relatives), that you are alone in what you’re feeling. The more we normalize these experiences and provide various unique perspectives that may relate better to one person over another, the more people will feel understood and in solidarity with one another.
Putting these traumas in writing actualizes them, keeps them from being erased from history, from memory. We cannot control if people will ignore them, but they’re immortalized once committed to the page.
For stories of people victimized by the mental health system, please check out Madwomen in the Attic. For stories of people affected by mental illness, you can check out blogs such as The Mighty or The Mental Illness Happy Hour blog.
Full disclosure, I wrote this while my own mental energy was not at one hundred percent. I’ve only scratched the surface of this conversation. I’d love for this to be a collaborative discussion. If you have thoughts to add or other blogs/writings you think people should check out, please use the comments section or email me at hanna@hannaetu.com and I can follow up in another post in the future.
Featured photo from Vie Studio.
Hanna Etu 