“Ridicule is a weak weapon when pointed at a strong mind, but common people are cowards and dread an empty laugh”- Martin Farquhar Tupper.

In episode 8, Reality Check, Elaina, and Tracy discussed the ridicule that many still face whenever they decide to be vulnerable enough to share their mental health issues and experiences. Both shared how this is our opportunity to normalize mental health issues and begin the conversations and take action to annihilate the stigma that prevents many of us from seeking the help that we truly need.

Elaina and Tracy discussed how some people have publicly shared their mental health challenges. The discussion explored how sharing personal experiences, storytelling, and collecting views from everyday problems others are about to relate to these stories and realize they are not alone. She further explained how this kind of person is brave, and it takes courage and strength to share these kinds of experiences. 

They provided an example of a young performer, Summer Walker, who was bullied on social media after sharing she suffered from social anxiety.

We need to educate people. Many don’t understand or know what social anxiety is, what it looks, or how it feels to be in a constant state of worry and anxiousness. You don’t help by being a bully.

We have to do better as a society. We should be supporting each other, not judging each other and putting each other down. What do you gain from picking on someone you don’t even know? How miserable can your life be to troll and bully someone on the internet?

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