Get Up, Stand Up and Speak Out!

I vividly recall the day I first stood up in public and talked about my mental health. Whilst I say vivid, the event was but I'm hazy on when it actually took place. It was long before people spoke out. Time to Change hadn't even been thought about. It was the days when us and them was even more overwhelming than it is today. Us and them, them and us? Am I not both?

At a conference in Nottingham on Mental Health and Education my former tutor from South Kent College and present or soon to be boss wheeled me out in triumph. The reason I say present or soon to be is that part of me thinks it was World Mental Health Day 2000 when I was unemployed but more likely it was the spring of 2001 when I worked for Ian as a part time LSA. All I know is I stood up, told my story, and blew them all away. They were stunned and I was mobbed. Had anyone heard a real story before? Told without notes and with utter passion and conviction.

Both of those dates were prior to Risperidone. I was trying to escape to see my friend Jody who lived and still does in Nottingham.

That moment gave me power. The power to transfix as I had done in my singing days. The ability to bring tears of joy and tears of sadness at the same time. Speaking out gave me back control.

All these years later with 2 books, a career, a voice, 5 years of this blog, reviews, lectures, admiration in some quarters and criticism in others on this day the world talks about their mental health.

On campus we spoke on Time to Change #timetotalk day. And it was a triumph. Usually people don't engage. We spoke to a couple of 100. 46 students and staff shared on cards how they maintain their mental health. Twitter was aflame and we triumphed. What a far cry from the day in the early 1990s when I overcame my paranoia, fear, anxiety and depression to attend part of a conference in London. On that day I met and spoke to a commissioner. It was the first time she had ever spoken to a nutter like me.

I hope in a small way for all those who criticise me for being unprofessional what I have done to speak out in the last 15 years has done some good. Thank you all for listening.

I Heard a Voice.