Glenn Close was riveting! My eyes watered as I listened to her poignant moving story about mental illness in her family. All of a sudden, Ms. Close was no longer the Hollywood legend illuminating the Silver Screen, but a fallible fellow human being dealing with a gut-wrenching issue that haunts many of our lives. But, she is still a superstar, showing incredible courage in coming out about one of the most taboo subjects in modern society within a film industry riddled with stigma. At the Together Against Stigma conference in Ottawa from June 4th to 6th, Glenn Close was there to tell us that people with mental illnesses are the last remaining group in society who need and deserve the same human rights protection as any other disenfranchised group. Specifically, they deserve to live free from that present soul-killing stigma that paralyses the lives of fragile people. Glenn knows that people with lived experience are the final frontier – the last worthy recipients of the freedoms and opportunities every other group enjoys in a civil society.
I always thought Glenn Close was beautiful, I just never knew that it was on the inside as well. Hundreds of people were hypnotized as she talked about how mental illness ripped through her family like a tornado. Even in the midst of it, “mental illness did not exist.” Growing up, her family “had absolutely no vocabulary for it.” The actress talked about undiagnosed illness and suicides in an All-American, picture-perfect Connecticut family. But ultimately, this is a story about awareness, hope and promise. When her sister and nephew became sick, Glenn started a long journey to learn and understand what was happening to her loved ones – who became activists themselves in their own recovery.
Glenn’s sister has bipolar disorder and her nephew lives with schizoaffective disorder. Her voice was choked with emotion when she talked about the courage of Jessie Close and Calin Pick confronting the stigma head on: they stood for 12 hours in the stifling heat of New York’s Grand Central Station, wearing T-Shirts showing their psychiatric labels and engaging curious passersby. Glenn and her family have launched an anti-stigma initiative in the U.S. called “Bring Change 2 Mind.” The website is: www.bringchange2mind.org.
“I pledge to use my name in public for the eradication of the stigma, prejudice and discrimination about mental illness. Little did I know that it is the last most challenging human rights issues of our time,” Glenn says. These are the words of a dedicated humanitarian.
The adrenaline was pumping at the Ottawa conference – Together Against Stigma: Changing how we see mental illness. It was inspiring to see world-wide experts talking about dispelling prejudice and promoting inclusion and human rights, discussing interventions to combat stigma and letting in the light of knowledge and promise. The event was momentous. Global experts and leading authorities in the area of mental health and stigma mesmerized the audience with the latest thinking, analyses and research being done all over the world. I felt privileged to be there. When it comes to knowledge and education about stigma and discrimination towards people with mental illnesses, this event was the crème de la crème. The real mother lode was the involvement of people with lived experience in every aspect of this prestigious conference.
The ground-breaking event was organized by the Mental Health Commission of Canada and the World Psychiatric Association Scientific Section on Stigma and Mental Illness. “Opening Minds”, launched by the MHCC in 2009, is the biggest systemic strategy to reduce the stigma about mental illness in Canadian history!
Hope is the elixir, the god’s potion. With hope, people get well. Here is the hopeful message I took from Ottawa: Enough is enough. We are going to make this right. And we are going to meet every year until people with mental illnesses are free to live their dreams in a society without barriers.
I think that Glenn Close would agree with me that the future is definitely exciting.
By Doreen Marion Gee