Overcoming the stigma

Group makes DVD about how mentally ill are treated

From the May 15th edition of The Chronicle Herald:

By Cathy von Kintzl (Truro Bureau)

TRURO — Joe was 15 and in high school when he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

"There’s a stigma in high school without mental illness," the young man says on a recently released educational DVD entitled Labelled: Mentally ill.

"It’s a hard place for a lot of kids. Throwing a severe bout of mania into that. . . . There was a lot of judgment from students and teachers. People thought I was on drugs or wanted attention. It was really difficult."

Experiences like Joe’s are reiterated time and again during the 30-minute documentary-style film created by five Colchester County residents who have experienced mental illness either personally, or through family or friends.

"Someone I knew approached me about four years ago with an idea for a video that addresses the stigma about mental illness," co-creator Geoff Alcock of Salmon River said in an interview Wednesday.

"People fear that if someone knows they have a mental illness, they’ll be discriminated against."

And sometimes they are discriminated against at work, in school, in social settings and beyond, he said.

Those situations drove the project team into action.

Mr. Alcock, Jane Bermingham of Truro, Christina Myhre of Central North River and Audrey Bailey and Belinda Meers of Bible Hill held their first meeting in 2005 and applied for funding from the provincial Health Department.

The team got $36,500 and spent three years and countless volunteer hours making the DVD with a professional production company, Densmore’s Video Presentations.

The result is a collection of testimonials from people, like Joe, who are living with mental illness and the health professionals who work with them.

For example, there is Ken, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia at 31.

"You don’t want to be mentally ill," he said on the DVD. "It’s a disability that we’ve got. It’s not our fault."

Ken blames the media for some public misconceptions he encounters, such as that mentally ill people are dangerous.

"People are unfortunately being educated by the TV and it doesn’t give a realistic portrayal."

Ms. Bermingham said during the same interview with Mr. Alcock that she’d like to see the DVD, which is available free of charge to organizations, in every school and library and in the hands of church, service and community groups so that people of all ages can see it.

"I think family and friends of people diagnosed with mental illness sometimes don’t know how to handle it, what to do," she said.

The group hopes the DVD will help, and members say it isn’t really about educating people about mental illnesses as much as better identifying and overcoming stigmas associated with them.

"I think we’ve come a long way, but we still have a way to go," Ms. Bailey said.

For information, Ms. Bermingham can be reached at 895-8947 and Ms. Bailey at 893-7636.

Audrey Bailey holds a copy of the DVD Labelled: Mentally ill. Other members of the project team are Geoff Alcock, Jane Bermingham and Christina Myhre. (Photograph by Cathy von Kintzel / Truro Bureau)