Walking Rosie: Fighting Stigma During Mental Health Month

I have a dog named Rosie. She’s going to be seven years old and she loves her morning walks in the woods. She loves toys – well, more accurately, she loves taking the squeaker out of toys. She LOVES her people, is obsessed with chipmunks and wants a belly rub on the couch. She’s terrified of nail clippers and plastic bags that float around in the breeze. Rosie is all of these things.

She is also a 75lb Pit Bull, and we navigate the stigma associated with that reality on a daily basis.

Regularly, people cross the street when they see us. Regularly, people say negative things about her and they often threaten harm. There are cities where we could not live; where we couldn’t get home insurance or couldn’t rent a place. When we go to the vet’s office, they send us to a side door for “the other pet parents’ comfort.” People have thrown things out of their car at us. People have said they want to kill her. And of course, there are the constant stares of disapproval.

I use all of the coping strategies you can imagine. She has a flower collar and a pink jacket. I find that if she’s “dressed up” people react a little less. When someone says something or gives us “the look” I always say “Hi, my name is Brooke and this is Rosie. She loves people!” Sometimes I make a comment on the weather, so they are forced into being neighborly. If we see someone coming, they always get the right-of-way, and I put her in a “sit” so they can see she’s trained.

I’m not trying to draw an exact equivalent in telling this story. I know Rosie is just a dog and my experience is not even close to what folks go through who are battling stigma in other ways. I cannot even imagine facing stigmas that are far more threatening. But from this limited experience, I can say it's exhausting. And frustrating. And even though I know Rosie – know that she isn’t what they believe – sometimes I still feel a pang of shame. Like somehow we have done something wrong just by existing. The moments that hurt most are when I forget – when we are just being ourselves and someone will say something mean. It’s like a joy balloon gets popped.

Stigma is a bad, bad thing. It makes people afraid to be who they are and it limits their sense of safety. It has lasting adverse effects on their health and well-being. Stigma causes folks to pull inward – sometimes internalizing those negative thoughts and feelings heard in the world. It makes people wince with the disapproving looks or feel the disgust of someone else’s gaze. It can cause people to avoid the places, people and services they need. It’s terrifying and causes people to feel under threat all the time.

This month as we focus on Mental Health Awareness – I remember that 9 of 10 people with a mental health challenge report feeling stigma in their lives. It’s a top reason why folks don’t receive the care they need and deserve. It contributes to social isolation and loneliness and it limits someone’s ability to heal from their lived experiences. At its worst, it does direct harm and people die.

At Cypress, this month and every month, a top priority of ours is fighting stigma. We want each and every person to feel safe and seen in our trainings. We fight stigma related to mental health, grief events, lived experience with trauma, burn-out – whatever someone is bringing to a training. But we need everyone to do the same. This May, let’s all work to end stigma. Let’s lead by example; standing as allies with folks navigating challenges. Let’s do what we can to make it okay to not always be okay. Let’s look out for one another and get to know a person and not just their struggle. Please join the Cypress team in committing to ending the threat of stigma during Mental Health Awareness month and every month.