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As you probably already know, May is Mental Health Awareness Month. This year, let’s start thinking and talking differently about it.
Like everyone else
People with mental health conditions are just like everyone else. They have hopes and dreams, and they also have the same rights as everyone else, including the right to be treated with dignity and respect and to be free from discrimination.
The stigma is still real
Protecting the rights of people with mental illness is a big part of what we do at Disability Rights Texas. That's because in the past, people with mental health issues were often confined against their will and subjected to unnecessary, inhumane treatments. Those who were not institutionalized still faced an uphill battle against discrimination and stigmatization.
Even though society’s understanding has grown and helpful laws have been passed, we still have a long way to go. People with mental health conditions still face discrimination and stigmatization every day.
For example, the media, public officials, and others are quick to link mass shootings to mental illness even though data shows that most people with mental health conditions are no more likely to be violent than anyone else. In fact, people with severe mental illnesses are over 10 times more likely to be victims of violence.
It could be you
Today, an estimated one in five people will experience a mental health issue this year, and half of all people will experience one in their lifetime. Even if you don’t experience a mental health issue, odds are someone you know will.
So let’s stop the stigma by changing the way we think and talk about mental illness. Because tomorrow you could find it’s your loved one – or you – who is being talked about.
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