In two recent posts, we talked about the “Honest, Open, Proud” program, which describes a process for deciding whether to disclose your mental illness to others. In the first post, “Should You Disclose Your Mental Illness?”, I reviewed lesson one, which helps you thoroughly consider the pros and cons of sharing your story.
In the second post, “How to Begin to Disclose Your Mental Illness,” I went on to review lesson two from the program, which covers several different ways to disclose your illness, including very selective disclosure to only a few people and wider levels of disclosure. We also talked about choosing who to disclose to first and considering how others may respond to your disclosure.
In this post, we’ll review the third and final lesson from the program, called “Telling Your Story.” It helps you learn how to publicly share your story about your mental illness in a safe and meaningful way.
As you prepare to share your story in public, it’s important to identify a small group that you know is supportive of people with mental health issues. Check out organized support groups, peer-led programs, mental health organizations, or other groups focusing on mental health awareness and advocacy. If they are receptive to having you share your story, try to find out about how many people may be present and how much time you will be given to present your story. Confirm details such as location, time and date, etc.
Here’s a helpful template provided by the program that you could use to structure what to share when you publicly discuss your mental illness. These points are flexible, so adapt them as needed:
- Your name and how you refer to your mental illness.
- Some events from your childhood and/or signs from your past that might reflect the beginnings of your illness.
- How your mental illness emerged and at what age.
- How your mental illness persisted and the struggles you faced, plus how your illness impacted your friends and family.
- Treatment and/or support you have received for your illness and to what extent these have helped you.
- Negative experiences such as stigma or discrimination related to your mental illness.
- Things you have achieved and accomplished despite of (or because of) your mental illness.
- The purpose and moral of your story, including the message to treat people with mental illness fairly.
Here are a few other general considerations to keep in mind as you share your story:
- Keep your story truthful and realistic. Don’t try to paint your mental illness in an overly positive or negative light.
- If you use professional terms, explain their meaning in simple terms the first time you use the term.
- You don’t have to discuss everything about your illness or your past. Disclose only what you are comfortable in sharing.
After you have shared your story, take some time to evaluate how it went. Jot down a few notes about what you said, the reactions of the group (positive and negative), and rate how satisfied you are with the overall presentation. This type of analysis can help you modify your story for future presentations to make them more positive and effective.
If you are pleased with how the experience was, you may decide to share your story again with other groups. Some individuals also use social media platforms, blogs, podcasts, and videos as additional avenues for publicly sharing their story. If your experience was negative, remember you are under no obligation to share your story again if you decide not to.
I’ll restate what I said in my earlier post about this very personal process of disclosing your mental illness. The decision to disclose is yours and yours alone. If you share your story selectively or even more publicly, you have the right to decide what to disclose and to what extent you want to continue disclosing in the future. Ultimately, it’s critical that you make the decision that is most safe, meaningful and comfortable for you.
As you may know, I’ve published dozens of “Stories of Hope” here on my blog, in which people from all walks of life and from all over the world have chosen to publicly share their mental health stories with courage, compassion, and candor. If you would like to share your story in this series, please notify me via my contact page. Also, please subscribe to my blog and feel free to follow me on X (formerly Twitter), “like” my Facebook page, or connect on LinkedIn. Finally, if you enjoyed this article, please share it with a friend!