Bringing change to mind

Renew.  Rebuild. Recover. A blog brought to you by West Michigan Community Mental Health.  

The video opens like a preview for a horror film.  Quotes from movie reviews, displayed in a ragged and sinister-looking font, proclaim “Terrifying”; “Shocker of the year”; “SCHIZO”; and “He’s among us.”  Meanwhile ghastly sound effects and flickering, buzzing lights set a creepy tone.  Out of the darkness, a door appears and slowly opens.  The viewer is suddenly transported into a truly unexpected scene depicting the real nature of mental illness….  Wherein, a very normal-looking man pours coffee in a sunlit kitchen and visits with his family.

This public service announcement was produced by BringChange2Mind.org, a national campaign founded to end stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness through public education.  Founders of BringChange2Mind include well-known actor Glenn Close, whose sister, Jessie Close, and nephew, Calen Pick both live with mental illness.  Calen is the normal-looking man in the PSA.

The purpose of the PSA, and of BringChange2Mind.org, is to combat stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness.  The website offers several reasons why stigma reduction is important, including that stigma prevents people from seeking treatment, and studies suggest that public attitudes about mental illness are actually getting worse, not better.  To view more of the BringChange2Mind.org videos, see http://www.youtube.com/user/BringChange2Mind and visit the campaign’s full website at http://www.bringchange2mind.org/.