B is for Bring Change 2 Mind

If you're looking for a way to make the world a better place for people with mental illness, check out Bring Change 2 Mind. Personally, I have not worked with them - at least not yet. I'm involved in my local NAMI group and time available for advocacy activities is limited. As I've learned more about mental illnesses and the resources available to educate the world, Bring Change 2 Mind keeps surfacing. I guess it's time I look seriously at it.

The pledge.

Participating in Bring Change 2 Mind starts with a simple promise. It's appropriate whether you have a mental illness or not, whether you know someone with a mental illness or not. Ignorance abounds. I'm not saying that to be ugly. A lot of people simply do not know any better, nobody ever told them any different. Misinformation is all around us and, unfortunately, even the media perpetuates the myths. Who is going to set the record straight? Who is going to share and defend the truth? How do we do it?

The Bring Change to Mind website has a page dedicated to videos. I included one of them at the end of this post. Maybe I'll share an anti-stigma video every time I see a stigma-feeding video.

To share.

Of course you can share your money, but you can also share your story. I think the story is more important than the money. All the money in the world is useless unless people are talking and our stories are great ways to get honest conversations about mental illness started. It's much more than that, though. Talking helps us deal with the difficult things in our lives. I've been on the phone for hours sharing tough feelings and choices with my best friend and she with me. Neither of us are looking for advice, just some company, someone to lovingly listen. We always feel better.

During some of the lowest points in my life, I must have told my story a thousand times. I'm sure people got tired of hearing how he did this and she did that and I was hurt. Who knows, maybe I'll get around to telling some of the story on my blog. I need to muster up the courage first and that's really the heart of the issue here. People are afraid to share their stories.





For more information about the 2013 Blogging from A to Z Challenge see the website of the same name.