Posted: Monday 28 February 2011
To coincide with St David’s Day, Mind Cymru has launched three digital stories, showing the experience of people living with mental distress in Wales.
St David reportedly emphasised the importance of ‘doing the little things’ – an important message when it comes to tackling the discrimination around people with experience of mental distress, where a small change can have a big impact.
Levels of discrimination against people with experience of mental distress in Wales remain shockingly high.
During the three-day digital storytelling course, the three people who took part in the project learned how to create a script documenting their experiences, put a film together and edit it.
Lucy, one of the participants, said:
Writing my story down was both painful and healing for me as I realised how far I have now come. Being given the opportunity to make my film has meant a lot to me because I was able to say thank you to my mum, the one person who always believed in me and my ability to recover.
Another participant, Jos, commented:
I have used my digital story with professionals and service users to describe my life living with Bipolar. It has been very powerful, helped people to understand and made many cry.
Katherine, our third film-maker, said:
I hope that my film will show that mental health problems can affect anyone, and that you can't tell just by 'looking' at someone whether or not they experience mental health issues.
I think it is time that society took a step forward so that people with mental health problems do not face prejudice and discrimination in their lives.
Lindsay Foyster, Director of Mind Cymru, said:
We know that the process of people telling their stories can be hugely beneficial, not just to the person sharing their experiences, but also the population more widely.
Understanding people’s experiences helps tackle the discrimination faced by the one in four people who experience mental distress.
Karen Lewis, Project Leader at Storyworks, said:
Digital storytelling is becoming increasingly popular as a tool for advocacy. It can be a powerful way for people to express what they have really experienced, and get their own message across, in their own words and at their own pace. This can challenge other people’s perceptions and help break down barriers.
References and notes
Mind is the leading mental health charity in Wales and England. We work to create a better life for everyone with experience of mental distress.
Please note that Mind is not an acronym and should be set in title case.