Last year whilst attending some training with Mental Health Media in Leeds I was approached by one of the facilitators and asked if I’d be interested in delivering training with her in the future. 

I’ve been around for about 12 years in Mental Health and related work and activity.  Some of which has included delivering training and facilitating various kinds of groups.  I enjoy this kind of work as part of a holistic package so I was delighted to get the opportunity to take up the offer from Aloyse Raptopoulus.

Open Up is part of the Time for Change program of activity focusing on the end of Discrimination.  The tool kit used was aimed to offer skills in individuals lives to address stigma and the associated internalised and externalised oppression. 

In reality it’s an indepth and demanding course that has a Campaigning focus for the attendees.  This can be a useful way to think about the potential for change - though as a facilitator it was important to create a space for those on the course to begin exploring their own feelings in regard to the vast and differing discrimination events that each one had experienced. 

Jacqui Dillon - Chair of The Hearing Voices Network said something at the Leeds Mind Conference last year that has stayed with me - ‘The personal is political’

By the very nature of beginning the process of addressing the damage done by widespread and yet individual discrimination a personal political or individually powerful change begins. 

Open up, in the link above have created a simple and elegant social networking site for individuals associating with the campaign and it’s message.  In my mind the networks built on this platform will be able to be integrated (where desired) into larger network platforms.  Connection being the name of the game.  The further networks addressing stigma and discrimination spread the greater likelihood of those individuals knowingly or unknowingly perpetrating oppression of others coming to an end. 

With that comes a warning from my own perspective - and I do wish to qualify that this is my view and I accept that there are many other views. 

I believe it’s important to challenge stigma in a way that opens minds.  Those that perpetuate behaviours that are damaging to people with mental health distress will need to face acknowledgement of the harm done by their behaviours.  That is no small thing and change of this sort to a person’s psyche, I believe, needs to be gentle, nonpunitive and ultimately - safe.   

I do agree that at times anger - fueling activity that leads to change is an important and vital emotion.  But I also believe that the tone of any personal or political campaign needs to be thought through. 

I hope that in personal and political campaigning care and empathy can be applied to those changing their oppressive behaviours as equally as to those changing their repressive behaviours.  I’m not convinced that change will be achieved without it.