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Great perspective. Question for the HN community: Why/How is it that small communities like HN have removed the stigma attached with mental health while larger

Great perspective. Question for the HN community: Why/How is it that small communities like HN have removed the stigma attached with mental health while larger society has not?

cdjk 14y ago
I still think there's a stigma. It's good that people are talking about it, but I don't think that means the stigma is gone.
jnorion 14y ago
There's a lot less stigma attached when it's a (relatively) anonymous forum, when you're not face-to-face with the people responding, when you have a large support group because people who understand and care find YOU (via your headline) rather than you having to find them, and when someone who responds in a negative way is likely to get downvoted and called an asshole. There are probably still people on HN who respond negatively to an admission of depression, but they're (wisely) keeping quiet.
- cdjk 14y ago
  I've never considered my username here to be particularly anonymous. Apparently it is, as I just discovered, but anyone who knows me would recognize my username. To be honest, the number of people who are open about mental health problems in posts like this is fairly surprising to me.
DanBC 14y ago
> Why/How is it that small communities like HN have removed the stigma attached with mental health They haven't - there's still stigma around MH problems. It just doesn't show itself in threads like this. See any thread about i) interviewing or ii) spree shooting and there'll be plenty of stigmatising comments. It's not so bad, because at least most people on HN are happy to talk about it.
scottcha 14y ago
Yes, as the author of the article I thought through the stigma associated with this before I posted. Ultimately it came down to leading with my heart and doing what I thought was right regardless of what others thought. It is great that there has been a quite open and kind discussion as that is what is needed.

Great perspective. Question for the HN community: Why/How is it that small communities like HN have removed the stigma attached with mental health while larger society has not?

cdjk 14y ago

I still think there's a stigma. It's good that people are talking about it, but I don't think that means the stigma is gone.

jnorion 14y ago

There's a lot less stigma attached when it's a (relatively) anonymous forum, when you're not face-to-face with the people responding, when you have a large support group because people who understand and care find YOU (via your headline) rather than you having to find them, and when someone who responds in a negative way is likely to get downvoted and called an asshole. There are probably still people on HN who respond negatively to an admission of depression, but they're (wisely) keeping quiet.

cdjk 14y ago
I've never considered my username here to be particularly anonymous. Apparently it is, as I just discovered, but anyone who knows me would recognize my username. To be honest, the number of people who are open about mental health problems in posts like this is fairly surprising to me.

DanBC 14y ago

> Why/How is it that small communities like HN have removed the stigma attached with mental health They haven't - there's still stigma around MH problems. It just doesn't show itself in threads like this. See any thread about i) interviewing or ii) spree shooting and there'll be plenty of stigmatising comments. It's not so bad, because at least most people on HN are happy to talk about it.

scottcha 14y ago

Yes, as the author of the article I thought through the stigma associated with this before I posted. Ultimately it came down to leading with my heart and doing what I thought was right regardless of what others thought. It is great that there has been a quite open and kind discussion as that is what is needed.