Hello my Zebras and Spoonies! Thanks for coming and hanging out with me today, I’m glad that you are here. Today I want to talk about the stigma that many of face. Stigma is surrounding many chronic illnesses, but I feel that the stigma that surrounds those with mental illness is perhaps the most damaging. The first reason that I feel this way is because we inherently connect our mental state to our ego and when people judge our mental illness it is impossible to not feel it as a personal attack. These kinds of comments and actions just tend to hit us in our most sensitive areas. But there is also the very real fact that we need to have of mental health in order to be able to manage our physical health. When we have poorly regulated mental illness, we will not be able to manage our physical illnesses. This means that the stigmas that prevent people from getting good mental health care is going to effect every aspect of their wellness.