Changing How People Look At Mental Illness, Stand Up For Mental Health
Just had en early morning phone call from an Executive at a very large Canadian company,based back East.
Stand Up For Mental Health had put together a presentation and proposal for working together with this company. We wanted to design and develop workshops using comedy, to discuss mental health issues in the workplace, with their offices across Canada, and for their corporate clients.
This company has gone so far as to found their own Center For Mental Health, and we applaud them for this visionary move. We felt that this would be a perfect fit for Stand Up For Mental Health-our mandate is to remove the stigma surrounding mental illness in the workplace and our communities at large. The initital reaction to our proposal was very positive.
However, this morning, after a vivid discussion about the weather (in normal tones of voice), was told, in a hushed voice, that we are 'just not ready-there is still too much stigma attached to mental illness-we are just not there yet.' Our proposal was just too ahead of the curve for them.
The whole point of Stand Up For Mental Health is to help individuals, organizations and corporations like this Canadian company overcome their prejudices and misconceptions, and start to really talk about mental illness. Not just talk about it, but to listern to people who have mental illness. Isn't that what a Centre For Mental Health should be open to?
We all have to start somewhere, and it will take great personal, government and corporate courage to engage in a frank, open, and yes, sometimes humorous discussion about a very critical issue-mental illness.
We will to continue to pursue opportunities for Stand Up For Mental Health at every level, and hope that in time this Canadian company and others will be open to continuing the dialogue.
We're continuing the discussion, and value your input. PLEASE VOTE FOR CHANGING HOW PEOPLE LOOK AT MENTAL ILLNESS in the what do you think? new year's resolution contest
pat
Comments
Hi Wilma, Not only are
Hi Wilma,
Not only are you courageous, you are wise.
We have to keep putting it all out there, as you say NO ONE IS EXEMPT.
Good luck with the fine arts degree, and helping to spread the word.Viva La Resolution! Changing Hearts and Minds One Laugh At A Time.
pat
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I'm sorry this company
I'm sorry this company didn't open the door wide enough (yet) for you. I saw the StandUp last year, and laughed and cried and thought it was the best money I'd spent on entertainment in a long time.
Don't give up. As someone with her own business, sometimes the places you expect will respond well don't end up panning out, then places you'd least expect pop up and open the door.
Meanwhile, I'm with you in promoting StandUp for Mental Health.
nancy (aka money coach)
http://www.nancyzimmerman.com
http://www.yourmoneybydesign.com
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I love the concept of stand
I love the concept of stand up for comedy, but have to agree with the decision that the company made.
Stand up for comedy is a great vehicle to deliver candid commentary about mental illness, but the key is that it is something available by choice to great public as a whole.
IF you are going to have workshops or even a 'centre for mental health' within a company, humour is not the way to go, because not everyone thinks their challenges are funny. Within a business, you have to maintain a professional comfort level for all employees, otherwise you are no longer accessible to the ones who fail to see the funny in their particular situation.
Great concept, poor application
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Thanks for your
Thanks for your support,Nancy.
Stand Up For Mental Health never gives up. Giving up is not in our vocabulary.
Right now, we are promoting this year's first Fundraising Show, Sunday April 13 at 7pm, at the Granville Island Arts Club Stage. Comedian Mike MacDonald headlines. Glad that you saw last year's show, and that it really accomplished its mission-it made you laugh.
So, are you coming this year? Bring a friend. Each year is a totally different show, with a new class of comedians and their original material. We certainly hope that Vancity Executives will be coming, and members too,
Ready for some good medicine, time to shake off those winter blues? You may not be nuts, but we certainly are. Come laugh with us.
Please visit our website www.standupformentalhealth.com for more info and to order tickets.
See you there, Nancy.
pat
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I have several anxiety
I have several anxiety disorders that are chronic. I'm glad I found this site. I have a goal which is twofold, the first is to go back in time before the DSM cam into being. People who were different back then were called eccentric, hermits, and so on. Everybody has quirks and peculiarities but we shouldn't have to be coralled together and stigmatized.
My other aim is to work with groups whose goal is to get all the various media to stop portraying murderers as "psycho's, or other derogatory terms. The public's fear of those who are "different" is in large part due to how they are portrayed in movies, on television, and even in the news.
Keep up the good work, and I'm just beginning mine. Hopefully, through our different approaches, we can make a difference.
Catherine
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I totally agree that we
I totally agree that we should have some large workplaces using the Stand Up for Mental Health resources. I have a mental health issue myself and have never laughed so hard as at the Stand up for Mental health show last year at the Arts Club. I don't think most Canadians are aware that bi-polar, depression and schizophrenia is rampant in our society today and can be found anywhere and everywhere. Don't think you are exempt as it can strike anyone. I myself am very high functioning and have never allowed stigma to stop me as I am quite prepared to let anyone know that I have bi-polar, but that does not define me. I am also an artist and working towards my degree in fine arts.
I am also a writer and have gone through two levels of creative writing free through the Consumers Initiative Fund.
Chances are most people know someone or are related to someone who has a mental health problem. These large corporations are kidding themselves if they think that no-one in their organization could possibly have mental health problems. Please have second thoughts about using the resources offered by Stand up for Mental Health. You will be looked on as a visionary in our society. The other large corporations will follow suit. I would highly recommend David Granirer and his very professional troupe of storytellers to get the message across.