"It's Harder To 'Come Out' About Mental Health Than Being Gay"

[Mike 03]

Happened to spot this story on the Medical News Today site last night and thought it was interesting. I don't have a strong feeling about whether it is true or not, but I identify with the problem for anyone who has something they feel ambivalent about hiding.

I'd like to know what the GLBT community thinks of it. It surprised me quite a bit, although maybe not.

I fall into that category of having a mental health issue and, true, only my very closest friends know about it, I'm ashamed about it, and I would not talk openly about it to anyone but my absolute closest friends and mostly just family who I can't hide it from anyway.

Excerpt from Text:


"Brits find it harder to 'come out' about mental health problems than being gay, having cancer, having drink problems or being bankrupt - confirming mental health is one of our last big taboos.

In a brand new survey of over 2000 British people, nearly 30 per cent said they'd find it hard to 'come out' publicly about having a mental health problem; compared with just over 20per cent who said they'd feel as awkward about coming out as gay. It confirms what campaigners have been saying - mental health problems really are one of society's last social taboos. Many people say the stigma and silence around mental health problems, which affect 1 in 4 of us at some stage, can be even harder than the illness itself. The survey, which was commissioned as part of the Time to Change campaign found that people find it harder to go public about having mental health problems than they do:

- being gay
- having a drink problem
- going bankrupt
- being diagnosed with cancer "

More here:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/141623.php

[joeybee12]

1. This seems stupid...you can't really answer either question unless you are gay...

...or have a mental health issue...you really can only project what it would be like. Not to slam your interest, but the survey itself...both are hard, but I don't think this survey was all that well thought out.

[DarkTirade]

2. As long as there's a stigma about something, its going to be hard to come out.

After that, the difficulty involved is purely on a personal level. It depends on you, the people around you, how you feel it will affect your position with friends, family, work, ect. There's really no way to put something like that into numbers IMO.

[napoleon_in_rags]

3. I don't blame em. Coming out about mental health issues can be really dangerous.

Particularly the "delusional" type of illness, like schizophrenia. It has the ability to undermine your credibility on pretty much anything you say. One can find oneself in situations where real crimes done to them are written off to delusions. Thus mentally ill are 6 times more likely to be victims of violent crimes:
http://www.namiscc.org/newsletters/December01/statistics.htm