When you say something insensitive or harmful to someone with mental illness, it’s important to recognize it, apologize and educate yourself. 

If you suspect a coworker has depression, you have the opportunity to intervene and make a difference in their lives. Here are a few tips. 

"Trauma from my past and present combined with the heavy weight I bore from the labels I carried were like gasoline, and all it took was a spark to set my life ablaze."

"Many people hide their illness, which is understandable. Stigma and discrimination are real. But in a healthy community, we support one another when someone is ill."

"OCD owns the word "disorder" because it debilitates. It crashes through you like a bulldozer and asks you to pick up the pieces."

"While I was experiencing psychosis, I believed the torment would never cease. But it did, and I want others to know that psychosis will not always persist. There is help and hope in all situations."

"All I ask of you is to understand. To know that I’m sorry for pushing you away, for not being the most engaged friend, for cancelling plans and acting differently. All I ask is that you understand, you support me and you love me."

In order to recieve the best possible treatment, those with mental illness and their family members need access to an in-depth mental health education. 

"Loosening the grip of mental illness took a full year. No one flipped a switch. The transition from the world inside my head to the world outside was not only difficult but also fragile."

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a very misunderstood and stigmatized condition. Bisma, a person with lived experience, explains some of the important aspects of the condition that people with BPD want the general population to know.