The Goal: Stand Up To Stigma Is Closed For Business. - STAND UP TO STIGMA: Mental Health Peer Presenters & Community Education

The goal of the mental health peer advocate is to put myself out of business. A crucial step is to make the concept of “peer” meaningless and obsolete. By hanging on to the dehumanizing category “peer” the stigmas surrounding mental health persist.

Let me explain. By proclaiming myself a “peer” I’ve made myself “different than.” “Different than” invites stigmatization. Mental health peer advocacy seeks to see each person as the individual they are, not as one category of people different than another category of people divided by a medical condition.

When the idea of “mental health peer” is retired the stigmas about mental health can finally close. And then I’ll be out of business. I’m cool with that.