I’ve worked in PR for over eight years. And I’ve had mental health issues for over 20. Does this make me a statistic? No, it makes me a human.
Look around. Studies have proven that people who work in PR overindex on mental health issues, compared to the general population. Someone you work with, someone you care about has a mental health issue right now.
Think about this person you care about, with all their foibles, strengths and unique oddities. What if you were told they were simply a checklist of symptoms, which have classified them into a neat mental health box? You’d laugh, right? Then feel aggrieved on your and their behalf because they’re a person, not a hypothetical?
I believe – I know – that no mental health issue is the same, as no person is the same.
That’s the brilliant thing about people – we aren’t classifiable. We wonderfully resist definition.
For example. If someone looked at me one day and thought ‘Is this girl unusually quiet’? ‘Is she sleeping well?’ ‘Is she uninterested in things around her?’. I’d probably fit all of these criteria for depression when I’ve just got a bad hangover. But for someone else, these might be an immediate red flag for someone who knew them well.
That’s my point – people with mental health issues are just that – people. Before you can understand when we feel different, you have to understand just how we feel. Not applying generalisations but specifics.
I’m so lucky – at Unity I work with colleagues (and amazing bosses) who have taken the time to get to know me, who can recognise the difference between too much wine and depression (I’m being facetious but why not? It’s not all doom and gloom. Another good point!). And they are people I trust – that’s the most important point I can make. People who know what makes me tick, so they know when I’m not ticking at all.
Data is only useful up to a point. Have a cup of tea. Have a chat. Throw away the checklist if needs be. Relate to the people you spend most time with as a human, not as a data set. That’s what public relations is about after all.