***TRIGGER WARNING*** This post will talk about mental illness and disability and the effect the general election is having on these communities. I will mention the frustration caused by cultural bias and marginalisation. Please only read if you feel strong enough. For help with mental health and other issues please visit my get support page. For crisis support please visit my mental health and suicide prevention support page. ***TRIGGER WARNING***
Where on earth do I start with this?
I’ve said a few times that I try not to be directly political on this site because I understand why the subject can be so divisive, but lately it’s clear that everyone needs to use their voice to create the change we all need. I’ve never had a party political preference, although I think our local MP needs to be moved on, it has little to do with the party he belongs to.
There is a common thread of absent narrative from all parties that’s causing a lot of concern, and it has to be addressed.
The core needs of mental health and disability communities are being completely overlooked by all parties. Although the fringes of both subjects are being mentioned (via NHS improvements, mental health support in schools, and social care investment, for example) the root problem is being brushed under the carpet. Worst of all, while overlooking these issues, the MH and disability communities are being traumatised by the constant ‘sick note culture’ narrative were accused of creating and the repeating requests to ‘reform the welfare system’, which ultimately means trying to take away the few quid we have to pay our bills and put food on the table.
I’ve watched in horror as the Work and Pensions Secretary, Mel Stride, spoke on breakfast television recently and called out people with anxiety as being weak for not being able to deal with ‘the normal ups and downs of human life’. Bollocks.
I use the phrase ‘watched in horror’ because that interview left me in tears and lead to panic later that day. I’m genuinely afraid, but I’m also genuinely disabled and have a genuine mental illness. How on earth are we being triggered into feeling this way, and how on earth do we make a vote that counts for us, when there isn’t a voice out there that speaks for us?
What’s being said?
Politicians seem to disregard the impact they PERSONALLY have on communities that they single out this way. I can speak with experience on the subject, both personally and through conversations I’ve had and read with others, and we all feel desperately anxious that we’re being labelled as nothing more than ‘skivers’. How ironic.
The political sources of such comments don’t realise they’re making the problem worse just be speaking this way. This demonstrates how little understanding and empathy they have for the problem. Their own comments are making many of us more unwell, but they don’t offer solutions or support. All I’ve heard them offering us is threats of lost disability support payments, threats of more invasive work capability assessments and threats of interrogation of our bank account statements by the DWP.
When did being disabled and / or mentally unwell become a reason to be treated like a cheating criminal? When?
Trust me, being this different has caused me enough humiliation already. My inability to live in a ‘normal’ way still makes me ashamed every single day. I hate my pain, my ability, my parenting, my brain, my reflection and my world. I desperately want to improve, want to feel less pain, want to be more ‘normal’ and I’ve begged for help to get me there, but wait lists, NHS mistakes and an unbelievable amount of stigma and disbelief are all I’ve come up against, and that goes right up to my local MP.
As a result of all these issues, all these conversations, all this disbelief, and now this accusation of my political burden, I haven’t left the house for over 3 years.
The pandemic is blamed constantly, and in part this is a suggestion I agree with, but in the same breath they dismiss it as being over, something of the past, which is completely wrong.
COVID-19 changed my life and the changes continue to this day. Lack of understanding about the infection and the way it interacts with existing conditions have left many question marks about how to help me. I now have a heart condition, autonomic dysfunction, widespread pain, hairloss, insomnia, constipation and repeating subluxations and dislocations that send a bolt of pain through me that makes me yelp. A decade ago I worked 2 jobs, ran at least 5km a day, and spent my spare time volunteering for local sport events. I didn’t expect this, and I didn’t want this.
Despite everything I’ve never believed that I wont find a way of managing it all and eventually getting back to the outside world, doing some normal things, finding friends again, spending time with my family, and finding a career that works around my new limitations. I believed it would happen because I believed I lived in a country with robust medical and social support.
That’s changed and so have the people. Politicians have to understand that UK citizens as a whole are different, and trashing the economy, ruining the cost of energy, and leaving everyone on the breadline, has been part of it. Everyone was effected, everyone is more aware of stress and concerned for their family, everyone has concerns about the next pandemic, everyone has an impact from the last pandemic that they’re still feeling.
Going back to the point – I obviously need help to get out of my hole; help with pain management, help with managing dislocations safely, help with autonomic dysfunction and therapy for grief following the death of my mum, dad and daughter within just a few years. My partner is my carer, but he still works full time. I have no other social or familial support. I’d imagined such help would be temporary and get me back on my metaphorical feet so I could live and work independently without mental or physical pain and humiliation getting in the way. These hopes and dreams are the bare minimum for most humans, and I’m not the only one that wishes for them here in the UK. That help and support we all need doesn’t exist with the political plans we’re currently hearing about.
Frankly, people like me only seem to be visible as a problem and I no longer believe I’ll be ‘normal’ again.
The future feels uncertain, and while the media and political parties argue about optics and strategic voting, vast swathes of the public feel invisible or ignored, and our important vote (postal vote for me) has nowhere to go.
An open conclusion…
It’s not up to us, it’s up to them.
According to the Office of National Statistics there were 9.8 million disabled people in the UK in 2011, and the mental health charity Mind confirm that 1 in 9 of the population were reporting severe mental health related symptoms in any given week in 2014. These statistics are old, and the numbers are known to have risen in both cases.
So, here is my call to action for politicians…
Millions of people, likely more than 10% of the population, are being marginalised and triggered in this general election, and the impact of such actions shouldn’t be allowed.
Moreover, ignoring the needs of these communities and sending out threatening messages concerning welfare cuts and interrogations instead is wildly irresposible and unequal. Doing this rather than offering empathy, support and solutions can only be a mistake and makes it incredibly difficult to vote.
We need to hear about the direct impact your policies will have on our community. If you’re looking at making changes, how will people with genuine disabilities and / or mental illness be supported through such change? What will be done to INCLUDE us more in the wider community, and how will the NHS and social care systems be changed to help us further?
The dialogue we need should be more empathetic, and politicians acknowledging our community as real and in need of support rather than being nothing more than a burden, would be a refreshing and welcome change.
If you want this community to put their ‘X’ in a box without using strategy and instead concentrate on policy and change, then tell us what positive impact we’ll get if we vote your candidate in. Right now, there’s nothing positive for us, and I’m exhausted with waiting to be acknowledged.
A call to action for the mental health and disability communities…
There are a few things you can do to help this cause.
Disabled charities such as Scope and Disabilty Rights UK, and mental health charities such as Re:think mental illness and Mind are actively posting about these issues. Reading, liking and reposting their comments on social media will widen the narrative and hopefully help us get noticed.
If you’re unsure where to place your vote then take some time to research your local election candidates and read their policies on their websites. You can find this information via a post code search on Who can I vote for? where there are links to each of your candidates websites.
It’s also useful to hear each political party manifesto, which outlines each parties policies and aims. They are being published this week (June 10th onwards), and can be found on each party website. Here are the links to the main political parties I know of (in alphabetical order).
Conservative Party
DUP (Democratic Unionist Party)
Green Party
Labour Party
Liberal Democrats
Plaid Cymru
Reform UK
Scottish Conservatives
Scottish Labour Party
SNP (Scottish National Party)
I intend to write an open letter to all politicians concerning this matter which I’ll publish on social media soon.
Thanks, as always, for visiting.
Creative Steph 