Since the mid to late 2010’s, the hashtag #ItsOkayToNotBeOkay has been circulating the Internet a lot. With it came the normalisation of talking about our mental health concerns and the entry of things like depression and anxiety into the everyday lexicon. The issue, however, is that as a campaign it didn’t go far enough. While open discussion of depression and anxiety can be seen as a positive, we cannot ignore the erasure of things like schizophrenia and personality disorders which still face stigma and the vilified existence that contemporary media give to them.

Is it okay to not be okay?

I have spoken at length about my experiences with schizophrenia and my views on mental health. Some may naively believe that my view of schizophrenia as form of neurodivergence means that I don’t suffer much. This would be false. I suffer deeply. Neurodivergence is neutral, it comes with a variety of experiences, and not all of them are positive. In the case of schizophrenia for myself, there have been times in my life I am lucky to have survived.

#ItsNotOkayToNotBeOkay

We often focus so hard on the trauma that leads to mental health concerns that we miss the very real fact that struggling with our mental health is itself traumatic. We lose jobs, family, loved ones, passions, we hurt ourselves, we lose touch with reality. The truth is, to struggle with our mental health is to enter into an abusive relationship with our own mind. It’s not okay. Even for those of us who don’t experience psychosis, the question still remains as to whether or not their brain is deceiving them. While past campaigns have normalised discussing these experiences, they have done little to push us toward a world where this suffering is reduced or prevented.

What can we do to support each others mental health?

We have to move beyond just talking about individual experiences. Our mental health problems are being created on a mass scale by an uncaring economy and bigotry. We talk a lot about how Autistic people are prone to trauma and mental health problems. This suffering can be traced directly to the oppression of Autistic people and the intersections of identity they exist upon. In order to effect real change in our collective wellbeing, these are the issues that need yo be talked about and tackled.

So please, talk about the things that would improve your mental health. Call out the systems that have harmed you. Help make it impossible to ignore us by adding your voice to the #ItsNotOkayToNotBeOkay campaign. Whatever content you make will help, and sharing related content such as this will also help. Let’s lift each other up to a place where we can make real change.