Break the silence around mental illness: Delaney Ruston at TEDxRainier

Summary

The speaker shares a deeply personal journey of growing up with a father suffering from schizophrenia and the emotional challenges of coping with his illness. Despite shame and isolation, the speaker reconnects with their father through the lens of documentary filmmaking, uncovering the power of sharing personal stories to foster compassion for mental illness. The speaker explores global mental health struggles, highlighting stories from developing countries where access to care is limited. Ultimately, the message emphasizes the importance of sharing stories, listening, and collaborating to end the silence surrounding mental health and bring about real change.

Takeaways

• 😀 The narrator’s father struggled with schizophrenia, which caused significant personal and familial challenges, including periods of homelessness and crises.
• 😀 Despite being a medical student, the narrator faced immense emotional difficulty when trying to help her father, eventually distancing herself from him due to the chaos his illness caused.
• 😀 The narrator experienced intense shame over her father’s condition, including not inviting him to important life events like medical school graduation and her wedding.
• 😀 The narrator later chose to document her personal experience and the story of her father, overcoming her fears to create a documentary about their relationship and his mental illness.
• 😀 The power of personal storytelling is emphasized, as sharing the narrator's story helped foster compassion and understanding, both for her father and for others dealing with mental illness.
• 😀 The documentary led to an outpouring of shared experiences from others, demonstrating how stories can inspire empathy and encourage people to speak about their own struggles with mental illness.
• 😀 The narrator’s work in global health brought her face-to-face with similar challenges regarding mental health in developing countries, including the stigma, silence, and poor access to care.
• 😀 The narrator filmed personal stories from individuals in countries like India, China, and Africa, highlighting the shared nature of mental health struggles despite cultural differences.
• 😀 The documentary shared the heart-wrenching story of Selma, a woman with severe mental illness in India, and her mother, who had to resort to chaining Selma due to a lack of treatment options.
• 😀 The narrator stresses the importance of sharing stories to break the silence around mental illness and suicide, highlighting the need for compassion, listening, and creativity in how we approach mental health care globally.
• 😀 The narrator advocates for a shift from silence to compassion in the mental health space, emphasizing the need for individuals, organizations, and communities to engage in more open dialogue to foster healing and support for those affected.

Q & A

What event prompted the speaker to realize their father's schizophrenia was severe?

The speaker's father showed up outside their door, yelling about the CIA and police chasing him while claiming to be his father. This event made the speaker realize how bad his delusions were, especially when the emergency room did not allow him to be hospitalized.

How did the speaker cope with their father's mental illness during medical school?

The speaker disconnected from their father by unlisting their phone number and hiding from him, despite feeling guilty about abandoning him. This was the only way they felt they could finish their medical training.

What did the speaker hope to achieve by making the documentary about their father?

The speaker wanted to reconnect with their father and face the shame and guilt they had for not including him in major life events like their graduation and wedding. They also aimed to raise awareness about mental illness and inspire compassion.

How did making the documentary impact the speaker's view on compassion?

The speaker experienced self-compassion by sharing their most feared personal story. They also saw the power of personal stories in transforming others' views and fostering compassion toward people with mental illness.

What role did personal stories play in the global conversation about mental illness?

Personal stories served as a catalyst for others to share their own experiences, creating a ripple effect. This allowed for more understanding and action on mental health issues, leading to global discussions and greater support.

What did the speaker discover about the mental health care system in developing countries?

The speaker found that mental health care was severely lacking in developing countries, with few resources, clinics, or mental health professionals. The situation was similar to how mental health care was once in the United States, where psychiatric hospitals were few and far between.

How did the speaker address the stigma surrounding mental illness in different cultures?

The speaker discovered that, despite cultural differences, the stigma and silence surrounding mental illness were similar across countries. They emphasized that mental health issues were universal and that sharing stories could break this silence.

What was the significance of the story about Selma and her mother?

The story highlighted the extreme measures some families take when they cannot find treatment for a loved one with mental illness. Selma's mother used a chain to restrain her daughter due to the lack of care options, but it also showed the depth of love and the painful choices families face in such situations.

How did the speaker's personal experiences influence their desire to help others share their mental health stories?

The speaker's experience of making a film about their father’s mental illness and seeing the power of storytelling inspired them to help others share their own mental health stories, particularly in underrepresented communities and in areas with limited mental health care.

What was the outcome of the speaker's collaboration with mental health organizations for World Mental Health Day?

The speaker collaborated with 140 mental health organizations, including the World Health Organization, to create a global discussion around mental health using personal stories. This helped generate awareness and inspire action, showing the power of collective storytelling.