Masters of Disguise No More

“Unmasking” is the theme for this year’s Mental Health Week – meaning to remove the “mask” that people living with mental health challenges often wear to protect themselves from stigma.

The Canadian Mental Health Association’s Mental Health Week runs from May 5-11. This year’s theme is #UnmaskingMentalHealth and encourages people across Canada to look beyond the surface to see the whole person.

Perhaps you know the tune – about Eleanor Rigby.

“Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door. Who is it for?”

In their classic song about loneliness, The Beatles sum up beautifully what it is like to live with a “high-functioning” mental illness. The song comes to mind, at times, like when I am in a bipolar mood episode, I always leave the house with my mask on. Often, this is literal. I painstakingly put on make-up, painting a face that denotes coping and professionalism (wing tips for bright eyes! Blush for pink cheeks to denote good health!). When I leave the house, I match the attitude and tone of the people I interact with, putting in enormous mental effort to calculate the actions that will make me appear “normal.”

This mask broadcasts a message of “I’m fine,” when inside, I am often anything but. When I arrive home in the evening, I wash off the painted face and watch it circle the drain, as a kind of illustration of how depleted I feel, before I fall into bed exhausted from the effort.

For me, this year’s Mental Health Week theme is a call to action. When we unmask mental health, we create the conditions for reducing stigma by promoting understanding and eliminating discrimination against people with mental illness. Link to full article here.