Brains, Balls & Politics

We have become programmed to restrict our dialogue about ill-mental-health. Don’t get me wrong, we’re a far cry from the closed off ‘man up’ times, but day-in-day-out, I see people described as ‘brave’ for having shared their story of mental trauma. Indeed, I myself recently described an acquaintance who had told all on their social media network that they were a depressive as “exceptionally brave”.   It is of course brave, but should it be? I started this blog in January 2021, and the initial response was overwhelming and brilliant in equal measure, but I found myself pushed into silence soon after publishing a real-life account of what being in a depression feels like for me. Senior leaders within my former employer had suggested that, by talking so openly about my mental suffering, sharing with complete strangers the fact that I am, fairly routinely, suicidal, I was ‘limiting my career opportunities’ and ‘calling into question my reliability’. Bastards like these are the reason s