Tristen L.

UVic Student Mental Health Blogger

My name is Tristen (she/her/hers), and I am entering my fourth and final undergraduate year, as an Honours student in the Department of Psychology, here at UVic! My #1 goal in life (for now) is to be accepted into a graduate program, and to one day be a practicing clinical psychologist 😊

For many years, my personal identity has been deeply tied to mental illness. I have recently started questioning why this is, and when it began. Further, I have wondered whether my identification with mental illness will remain constant for the duration of my life. Maybe, one day, my reality (i.e., I am diagnosed with multiple mental illnesses) will become just another “thing” about me, no longer acting as a core tenant of my identity. Personally, I believe my identification with mental illness originated in response to society’s stigmatization of mental illnesses and harmful perspectives on females/women (e.g., “they are crazy”). Having actual names (e.g., Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Panic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder) to identify with, ascribed to me by a mental health professional, gave me real proof that I was not “crazy”, and that there was an underlying reason why I was struggling. And so, identifying with these mental illnesses became my armor against stigmatizing words/actions/people. Yet, sometimes it has been difficult to carry around my identification with mental illness in daily life, as these identities have acted almost like self-fulfilling prophecies, holding me back from improving my mental health.

Perhaps (following the necessary, ongoing, and relentless battle towards the complete de-stigmatization of mental health/illness) all individuals, whether they are struggling with their mental health, or have been diagnosed with a psychological disorder, will be entirely free in discovering how their mental health relates to their identity. In such a world, no longer would anyone need to use their identification with mental illnesses as armor against stigma; there would be no need for protection, (as the world should already be).

Throughout this upcoming year, I plan to dive deep into similar conversations about my personal experiences, mental health stigmatization, the oppressive nature of mental health services available to different populations in Canada, and to also share knowledge from my favourite areas of psychological research. By doing so, I hope to aid in the de-stigmatization of mental health/illness, and to create a safe space for myself and readers to learn, grow, make mistakes, and continuously work towards a more empathetic and compassionate understanding of both ourselves and those around us.

Screw the stigma<3

I acknowledge and respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples on whose traditional territory the university stands and the Songhees, Esquimalt, and WSÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.