Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.
-Elie Wiesel, writer and Nobel laureate
Nothing else helps the fight against stigma as much as advocacy does. And advocacy begins when those in power speak up. Silence is easy when it is not our suffering. But it helps to remember that if we do not speak up when others suffer, then no one will when it is our turn to suffer.
This year’s theme for World Mental Health Day is “Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change”. The theme calls us to meaningfully engage with people who have lived through mental health difficulties. When people with lived experiences speak up, they help us challenge the stigma, shape the public discourse, and in turn influence policy. But is it enough for them to speak up? Who provides the stage where these voices can be heard loud enough for the policymakers to listen?
The responsibility of such advocacy does not belong to one group. There is a difference in the effect based on the person who speaks up. When medical students speak up, they may influence the institute’s student mental health policies. When the residents speak up, they may call out an institute’s overwhelming work policies. When psychiatrists speak up, they may help the policymakers bridge the unmet needs of the population. And when the person with lived experiences speaks up, they challenge the stigma and discrimination that other people with mental illnesses have to face.
But those with lived experiences should not have to carry the burden of advocacy alone. It is our responsibility to make sure that those voices are heard in the right places. This year’s theme is not merely an invitation to listen. It is a question to us all. Whose voices are we going to hear? And what are we going to do when those voices have been heard?
This special issue of MINDS is our small attempt to create such a space. Based on this year’s theme, it aims to bring together the voices of those with their own lived experiences.
Warm Regards,
Dr. Priyash Jain
Editor, Minds Newsletter
