The best part of 2013 is that all this original art work - animation, soundtrack, scriptwriting was the outcome of teamwork by of people who often are not given the chance to participate in creative projects of any kind. The reason? Due to the stigma that still surrounds the whole vexed area of mental health conditions.
Let's try and unpack this a bit. The word 'stigma' is bandied around a great deal when it comes to questions of mental health. It has become a bit of a buzzword, an unexamined concept in many ways.
Is there really a stigma around mental ill-health? Is there really anything preventing anyone regardless of their mental health, from doing anything he or she might wish to do in mainstream society?
In some ways there is no such thing as stigma. Most mainstream venues are open for anyone to use, whether they happen to be service providers, community groups or commercial organisations.
I don't see art galleries, music studios, libraries, shops actively discrimating against people with mental health conditions. Also, these providers are legally bound under equality administration as well as their own policies and insurance agreements, to provide equal access to all consumers of their services.
Undoubtedly, there is discrimination by some employers and stigma unfortunately still exists in the job market.
There is also what might be called a 'sideways' stigma that comes from unlikely areas, even from health services that can be closely involved with mental health recovery.
For example, it is still quite common for arts projects involving people with mental health conditions to be identified as or sourced from therapies. Nothing wrong with therapies but the approach can still tie individuals down to their diagnoses.
A therapy, arts or otherwise, addresses a care need that is related to a clinical condition. It does not directly address an aspirational need nor does it address individuals' goals, hopes and dreams. That does not mean to say that therapies do not enable people to make progress in their recovery pathways. They can often be crucial.
However, it is only when individuals can be signposted to mainstream areas matched to their stated and chosen goals and interests that substantial self and group development takes place.
Access to mainstream has been part of the philosophy of health recovery and social inclusion for the best part of thirty years. In terms of social inclusion it goes back to the civil rights movement and even further.
I applaud the makers and collaborators of 'Mister Fox's Night Out' for their bold venture into the world of mainstream creative arts.
