I am extremely proud of my culture, I have plenty love for my home. But I see a problem in my culture, in my home.
We surrounding mental health and mental illness with an invisible barrier called stigma.
Stigma is a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.
We fail to recognize that behind every smile is a deep mix of emotions, we fail to see behind the exterior shell of a person’s complex feelings and we don’t recognize, that behind the baccanal, the tan ta na, behind the chipidee, is a person suffering with mental illness
We are blinded by the notion that displaying emotions are a sign of weakness,
If you don’t feel ok, yuh not ok. If you cry yuh weak and if yuh sad you shouldn’t be. We are blinded by our own vibrance. It’s always, was d scene or was d word. But never how are you feeling. Our culture is beautiful, iz beautiful, iz vibrant, iz exotic, and it carries an infectious rhythm. but it is burdened by a stigma that you must be ok and it is never anything more, anything deeper. The taboo of mental health haunts my home
And it’s something that I must break, I will break
Because Mental Health Matters
