Deconstructing Stigma

Deconstructing Stigma

Changing Attitudes About Mental Health

Learn More

The Campaign

Deconstructing Stigma: Changing Attitudes About Mental Health is a series of larger-than-life photographs and interviews with people from across the United States and beyond who have been affected by mental illness.

Since the campaign’s initial physical installation at Boston’s Logan International Airport, it has found homes in various US states, and has traveled the world with pop-up installations across the United States and in almost every inhabited continent. The installations, website, and the companion books serve to capture the complexity of living with a psychiatric disorder, seeking treatment, navigating insurance and healthcare systems, and facing stigma.

Told through the eyes of its participants, Deconstructing Stigma boldly challenges the misconceptions of what those with mental illness look like. The volunteers in this project are more than just statistics or nameless faces. They are mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, lawyers, doctors, engineers, musicians, and more. Each one has been affected by mental illness, and each one has also faced stigma.

Travelers look at airport exhibit — The physical installation of Deconstructing Stigma, on view now at Boston’s Logan Airport

Stigma—it’s an ugly word, and it’s even uglier to experience. Yet 75% of people with mental illness say they have endured the pain of stigma. Despite the concerns of being labeled and risking further stigma, the volunteers in this project are courageously sharing their stories of hope and resilience so that you will have an opportunity to “walk in their shoes” and perhaps step away with a different view of what it is like to have a mental illness.

1 in 5 Americans will experience mental illness in his or her lifetime. It is something that affects us all. If you are struggling with symptoms of an illness, or if you feel like no one would understand what you’re experiencing, this campaign is for you. You are not alone.

This project was developed by McLean Hospital, in partnership with local and national organizations. Together, we are deconstructing stigma, and together, we are changing lives.

Courtney

Your mental illness is just one part of you. You cannot reduce someone to a diagnosis

Doctors knew what was likely behind the emptiness that had consumed Courtney throughout her childhood. She found herself hospitalized at age 13—the depression, anxiety, mood swings, and what she describes as genuine, internal torture were too much to bear.

But the experts treating her said a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD) was a heavy label that they didn’t want to give to a young teen.

Doctors speculated I had it, but they weren’t willing to give me a proper diagnosis. They knew about the stigma surrounding BPD and worried about the diagnosis following me as I got older because they believed that many kids “grow out of” what I was experiencing.

Courtney’s story began when she “came out of her mother’s womb as a ball of anxiety.” As a young child, she had friends, but didn’t feel they genuinely cared about her.

Her worries were intense. At one point, she recalls going to a large park with her mom. It was snowing. Courtney made her mom hug every tree in the park because she feared the trees were cold.

My parents would often notice that I was acting withdrawn or upset. They’d ask if I was okay, and I would always say yes. Because what was wrong? I looked around and my mom and dad were together. My sister always wanted to play with me.

I had everything I needed to be comfortable and was well taken care of. What was there to be sad about? I didn’t have an answer. Sometimes, I’d make something up just so they would stop asking.

Courtney continued to cope by harming herself and engaging in unhealthy eating behaviors following her hospitalization. Before she entered the eighth grade, she was sent to a residential treatment center in Utah, where she’d stay for 10 months. She wasn’t allowed to speak to her friends back home or make simple decisions, like what to eat.

But she did enjoy her time painting, visiting the animals at the farm down the road, and even started journaling.

I now realize that experience was life-saving. I made friends who understood what I was going through. I felt normal there. But I remember thinking I would be better after leaving the hospital, and it was crushing to realize that wasn’t the case.

I was starting to learn that I wasn’t just going to wake up one day and magically feel better.

When she left the residential program, she felt confident that her mental health struggles were behind her.

Less than a year later, Courtney was hospitalized after choosing to stop taking her medication and beginning to self-harm again. It was then that she fully understood that this was a lifelong illness that would need consistent management.

Even with that understanding, once Courtney started college, she decided to stop seeing a therapist. She used binge-drinking and sexual activity to cope. She felt lonely and isolated, even when surrounded by close friends. By the time she began grad school at age 23, Courtney decided she’d had enough and reached out for help.

Getting that formal diagnosis of borderline personality disorder was freeing. For years, I’d wondered why I felt different from everyone else around me, but my diagnosis meant I wasn’t alone. It meant that I could get better, not just treat the peripheral symptoms I was experiencing.

Courtney was able to learn dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) exercises and the skills needed to help manage her illness. She wishes she had received the diagnosis earlier and wonders if it would have saved her from some of the pain she’s experienced. But, she wants others to know it sometimes takes time to find the right kind of help.

Finding the right therapist is like dating. The first person you meet with may not be a perfect match. You need to find a therapist with whom you can connect and feel comfortable. It’s important to have patience and, above all, to keep trying.

Courtney credits her family with providing love and support through the years. When she and her boyfriend aren’t enjoying brunch, Courtney likes to visit bookstores and museums, and watch reality TV shows.

The journaling she leaned on during her time in residential treatment turned into a passion for storytelling. She now teaches creative writing and has authored a book about her experiences living with BPD.

Stigma thrives in silence, and the lack of information breeds fear. We need to talk about what mental illness looks like—humanize it. And we need to share more stories of people who are getting better through treatment. It really is life-saving. There is always hope.