Steve's blog: December 2009

23 December 2009 | 04:23 PM
Steve
Topics: Someone who has experienced mental illness, Stigma and discrimination

 Happy Christmas!

From Tunbridge Wells in the snow, with abandoned vehicles on every street corner and juggernauts slipping down the hills on ice.

What will the New Year bring? It seems from the latest edition of Open Up that the Time to Change initiatives are doing really well - a tremendous variety of innovative ways to tackle stigma and discrimination. Next year I hope the energy will continue to drive through change.

One of the most important things, it seems to me, is to overcome the sense of ‘us and them.’ If those of us who’ve experienced mental ill-health just get labelled as ‘them’ then we’ve clearly lost the struggle to show that we’re all human, we’re all vulnerable, and we can’t tell when ill health might happen.  It is a truism to say we all have mental health.

As for me, I’m delighted with how the Edinburgh Fringe performances went and I’m thinking how to develop the show next year, maybe taking part in the nascent London Fringe? Who knows? Or shall I shut up, keep myself to myself, and focus on writing more poetry? In any event, I must apologise to those of you who've kindly left comments which I've not responded to. I rarely dare to look at this site - too afraid to discover that no one is reading this slight contribution to cyberspace.

Off to Berlin on the 367 mile bike ride with the Big Issue Foundation in May; now that will be a challenge, not least in ramping up my weekend mileage beforehand.

Not sure when this will be uploaded, but I do wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year. And may you have many not-so-mad and fruitful resolutions for 2010.  

Comments

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1. At 03:24 PM on 28 January 2010 Tim Dunton wrote:

Show at Edinburgh Fringe 2010

Hi Steve Was just wondering if you were taking your 'An Acute Psychotic Episode' Show back to the Edinburgh fringe festival in 2010. I came to see your show last year and thought it was very good, and thought provoking. I work for a Project called Network South Glos as Part of Rethink's South Gloucestershire team. I know you had support from the Time to Change Campaign last year and was wondering if you needed any help in distributing leaflets/ postcards about the show and time to change campaign. perhaps a postcard can be produced for this year promoting both show and campaign on either side of a postcard. with maybe an advert in the edinburgh fringe festival program. Let me know your thoughts, perhaps my project can help fund in some small way. I look forward to hearing from you. kind regards Tim Dunton

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