Dear Dustin, Kimberly, and Leslie,

I really appreciate this post of bringing awareness to the public regarding the stigma that people with mental illnesses face in their daily lives. I got so interested about reading your post after I chanced upon its title. Having close friends who have struggled with bouts of depression and other related mental illnesses, I certainly cannot be silent on how the public stereotypically characterizes mental illnesses. In fact, I myself have experienced horrible episodes of anxiety. Based on my personal experiences and observations, it is true that people who hold stereotypes against mentally-ill people perceive the target group to be “violent, incompetent, comical, risky, psycho etc.”. The reproduction of these discourses within the society can continuously harm the marginalized population of mentally-ill individuals and can create lesser opportunities for them to be given attention to and allow them to be able to speak up and share their unique experiences of their lives. Another important point you emphasized is the prevalence of suicide and its relation to mental illness which should be a concern especially with the rising rates of self-imposed deaths based on the graphs and data you presented. Thank you for being an instrument to spread awareness regarding this matter!

Best,
Tristan

Dear Dustin, Kimberly, and Leslie.

Dustin! I’m Dustin too! I hope we can be allies!

You sound right to me when discussing the thoughtlessness with which some people use language and how this perpetuates stereotypes about those in the mental community. I appreciate your integration of data and would even add that suicide attempts are up, particularly for young women (https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/01/health/suicide-poisoning-teens-study/index.html)

I’m have several questions for you all.
1. How is social media raising the stakes for the discussion you point out and what solutions or redress of the harmful effects of social media might you (experts as youth posting on YouthVoice) suggest?
2. Have you considered part of your advocacy to demand public spending on mental health? Here in Chicago we’ve had many mental health facilities close down since the recession of 2008 and I have seen schools like the one I work with absorb that impact.

Dustin, Kimberly, and Leslie,

Thank you for sharing this interesting read. I think that this article was very well organized. I think that since you are writing to people who stereotype mental health disorders, you should be more passive in your approach to telling them to stop. I think that it is so cool that you guys care so much about this topic and I care about it to. I think it could be easier for people to see your way of thinking if you were a bit less emotional about the matter. Thank you for sharing this article it was a very interesting find.

Sincerely,
Audrey