POP the Stigma on Mental Illness

During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criterion was which defined whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.

"Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub."

"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup.

"No." said the Director, "A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?

Erdman, B. (n.d.). Mental health humor!. Retrieved from http://www.bouldertherapist.com/html/humor/MentalHealthHumor/bathtubtest.html

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Stigma Busting. Wow I learned a lot today! These speakers were excellent and very knowledgeable. It was nice and refreshing to have speakers that have actually experienced what we have been learning about in class. The point from the “joke” above is that mental illness can affect anyone, from a war veteran to an upper class college athlete. It doesn’t have to be the “pan handler” on the side of the highway, it can be anyone. Mental illness is not a joke. There are so many people in the world that can’t and don’t understand what they are going through. I had an old friend of mine that battled addiction and mental illness who eventually couldn’t take the pain anymore and ended up taking his own life. Wow. Could the pain be that bad? To the point where nothing else matters and killing yourself is the answer? Well, unfortunately to some people the answer to this is yes…which is why mental illness awareness is so important! I want the world to know about, and be aware of mental illness. With that being said, I, as a future OTA, will help to reduce the stigma that surrounds mental illness and spread the knowledge that I've learned onto others!