Confessions of Those Affected by Mental Illness!

Mental Illness Awareness Week [MIAW] (October 4th - 10th)
2015 theme: Stigma Free

(Learn what we're doing on 7 Cups for this week here)

People with mental illness have many different stories to tell – of suffering and despair, but also of courage, resilience, hope, and generosity. [Source].

… and we want to hear those stories on 7 Cups!

Some confessions might be triggering, read at your discretion.

Do you have a mental disorder?

There can often be a lot of stigma around a variety of mental illnesses. It can make it very hard to talk about with others. But we want to hear your voice! So please share your story with us, or how stigma makes you feel or affects you, or just anything on your mind about what youre going through - whether on a high or low, if you can.

Do you know others with a mental disorder?

Perhaps there are so many things youd like to know or ask, but youre worried about it or dont know how. Feel free to share whats on your mind through this activity. It may allow you the opportunity to receive responses and support from those with mental disorders.

But why 'confessions'?

Great question! We realise that, for many, mental health can be a challenging topic. One may have many reserves about expressing themselves and vocalising certain things for a number of reasons. 'Confessions' has the connotations that one is acknowledging something for which they feel shame or embarrassed by. We have in mind that we would like to strive to be #StigmaFree and this involves looking at the things associated with shame and so forth. We would like to address it, and through these confessions, offer our support. The idea is to break the silence! So, through this activity, perhaps it can allow one to build up to talking more freely about what's on your mind.

So are confessions only negative?

Most definitely not! We do not have to stick strictly to the idea of confessions being about things one is shameful of. Perhaps it will be on something one is extremely proud off, yet - for whatever reason - hasn't felt able to express, for example. It most definitely does not have to be negative, and it can be a question too. E.g., "I find it hard to accept that my sibling has [mental illness] and is not just [stereotype]. I know that's not the case, so I feel bad for thinking that way. Is there anything I can do to help this?".

Feel free to get creative and use comic scripts, sketches or pictures, etc, to help share your confessions.

Submit your confessions via this form!

Rules:

● Please be respectful of others.
● Do not submit any graphic or inappropriate images or otherwise.

Inappropriate content will not be posted.

Other than that, we look forward to your confessions and offering our support!

edited by Rain45 Moved here due to Forum restructuring