Common Societal Stigmas

There are many ways in which society can stigmatize us or indeed we can stigmatize ourselves. It's easily done. The social norm is to be a person who contributes to societal perfection: someone who contributes to society, someone who has a job, pays taxes, builds a family, cares for that family, and has appropriate pastimes, holiday experiences, and a host of other normalizing actions and activities. You may be aware that when you have had a mental health experience, you start to view yourself as outside of this normality. You might even notice that others start to view you as outside of this norm. There is a huge stigma in society that if you have had a mental health experience, you cannot expect to have these things. I'd like to suggest that if it is something you want, then by all means go for it; every experience is open to someone who has a mental health condition. Alternatively, you may wish to have an experience where you embrace your mental health and do not pursue the societal norm or a variation of this, and that's okay too. What I'm proposing is that to combat this stigma, we should foster a sense of achievement and pride in whatever way we choose to express our presence on this planet, and that should be embraced as being enough. At the end of the day, we are all enough, and our achievements do not define us. 'Being' a human being defines us and being is very simple; just existing is enough for us to receive the trust and respect of others.