Being an LGBTQIA+ Ally by See Change Ambassador, Jen Ronan   When I sat down to first write this article, I had a severe case of melty-brain, because at first glance it seems like an ally and an ambassador are too similar to differentiate. But once I shut off the usual anxious sirens in my brain that kick off...Read More

One Dangerous Word   Discrimination can be described as the act of making unjustified and often harmful distinctions between human beings based on the groups, class or categories to which they belong. It doesn’t have to be overt or done on a large scale. It can be as simple as saying one dangerous word.   The...Read More

  Mental Health in the Workplace by See Change Ambassador, Bernadette Crawford   With 3 in 10 of us experiencing mental health issues, today more so than ever before, being able to openly discuss mental health is really essential. Look around your office – 3 in 10, that’s quite a lot of people. In a department of 40 people that’s...Read More

  Rights by See Change Ambassador, Lucie Kavanagh   Article I  All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.  Universal Declaration of Human Rights  United Nations    Human rights are slippery things. On paper they are clear,...Read More

    Stigma, how does it feel? by See Change Ambassador, Adrian Yeates   How strange would it be if you broke your leg,  But didn’t get help, and tried to hide it instead?  You want others to think, you’ve both feet on the ground,  Nothing to see here, I can still get around.  But the pain is too much and you collapse in despair,  You’re rushed to...Read More

When we talk about stigma, we are talking about using negative labels to identify people with mental health problems. Stigma has it roots in fear and misunderstanding. Many people hold negative opinions towards people with mental health problems because they do not understand the issues involved and because they are relying on myths and misconceptions....Read More

Overview Stigma can be deeply hurtful and isolating, and is one of the most significant problems encountered by people with mental health problems. Learning to live with mental health problems is made more difficult,  when someone experiences the prejudice caused by stigma. Stigma can be used to exclude and marginalise people. The prejudice and fear...Read More

There have, to date, been many initiatives to reduce the impact of stigma by challenging inaccurate representations in the media and by humanising the real facts about mental health problems. It may never be possible to totally eliminate inaccurate and hurtful comments, actions and headlines. It is, however, already evident that as people with self-experience and...Read More

In Ireland, one in four of us will experience a mental health problem at some point in our life. That’s enough of us to fill Croke Park fourteen times over; it’s six times the number of students who enrolled in all our Universities and all our ITs combined right across the county last year, and...Read More

2012 Research: Two years into the national stigma-reduction campaign, have attitudes changed?   In 2012, See Change commissioned Millward Brown Lansdowne to conduct a nationally representative survey of Irish attitudes towards mental health problems to build on baseline research conducted for the campaign in 2010. The survey was conducted over May and June in 2012 with a sample...Read More