Real Stories

‘Sticks and stones may break my bones… words can also hurt me’

“As soon as you mention you’ve been to Hollins Park, people treat you differently. When a friend returned home recently, her neighbour said: ‘Watch out, the nutter’s about’. That really knocked her confidence. We need to educate teenagers about mental health and learning disabilities as they are the next generation of parents. Hopefully, in the future, there’ll be an end to stigma. I’ll be asking all my family to sign the pledge.” Irene, 64

“Hurtful words lead to negative thinking in service users. It places the focus on the problems they experience rather than their path to recovery. Words such as ‘thick’ and ‘retarded’ suggest that mental health and learning disabilities are associated with a lack of intelligence. This simply isn’t true. It doesn’t matter how educated a person is, they are just as likely to experience mental ill health. Mental health and learning disabilities should not be seen as a barrier to bettering yourself, any more than physical illness would.” John, 54

“I want people to know that anyone can suffer from a mental health problem or learning disability. It’s not the end of the world and it is possible to recover and lead a happy, fulfilled life. It makes me so angry when I hear the horrible names and phrases that people use in everyday conversation. One day, they could become mentally ill, just like the people that they ridicule or offend.” Harry, 58