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I've never said this publicly, because I'm naturally private, but I suffer from depression. I have for many years, since I was 18. I know, by now, how to handle it. But as time has gone on, I've grown increasingly angry with the remaining stigma associated with this illness. /1
Why? Because my theory is that the stigma leads to the underfunded, patchwork mental health system we have in our country. Too many people fall through the cracks, or don't have the connections to navigate what is supposed to be the best public healthcare system in the world /2.
But we should do better. I don't have the solution. Part of the answer must be reducing the stigma and directing political attention to our healthcare system in this particular area. This will be hard, since politicians rarely discuss the quality of Cdn public healthcare. /3
But, for many, it is a life and death matter. People who are already hopeless have a hard time staying positive when they need to wait months to see a psychiatrist, or when others simply do not understand or denigrate the condition /4.
To some, the long wait times are just the price to pay. The moment we accept this is the moment we accept public policy failure. If only we had politicians with the courage to face this epidemic head on, probably made worse by COVID. /5
All of this to say, I think the answer starts with all of us. We need to pressure politicians to listen. We need to, internally, address the stigma-driven reaction that many of us still have towards mental illness. I only hope that disclosing my story will help in some small way
