Elyn Saks Quotes

I want to break down some of the stigma associated with mental illness.

There is nothing wrong with me. These are really sick people, sick that you can see.

I wanted to tell people, "My depression is acting up today" as an excuse for not seeing them, but I never managed to pull it off.

Diagnoses exist to help get people services they need - but there's no such thing as mental illness. We're all mentally ill.

We know that mental illness is not something that happens to other people. It touches us all. Why then is mental illness met with so much misunderstanding and fear?

There are lots of people with mental health disabilities, and that's just the way their life is; it's not like you see it in the movies.

People accuse me of glamorizing mental illness. Looking back sometimes, that's true. But I don't feel guilty.

Nothing defines the quality of life in a community more clearly than people who regard themselves, or whom the consensus chooses to regard, as mentally unwell.

Mental health needs a great deal of attention. It's the final taboo and it needs to be faced and dealt with.

I am mentally ill. I can say that. I am not ashamed of that. I survived that, I'm still surviving it, but bring it on. Better me than you.

Mental health is seen as a massive drag to have to write about - worthy, dull. Something you should 'have' to read / write about.

The only reason I've shared my story is to take that tiny baby step of breaking down the stigma attached to depression.

I want to remove the taboo from mental illness.

We recognize incidents of metal illness, and at the same time we stigmatize people who suffer from it or seek help to deal with it.

When I announced my focus on mental health as first lady of Georgia in 1971, none but five mental health advocates in the state wanted to be involved with the issue.

I'm not really interested in promoting 'Olive' as a series about depression or mental illness.

My mother struggled immensely with mental illness, and so did I. She grew up bipolar, but it was never diagnosed nor recognized. It was shrugged off like a 'symptom' of being female - of her being weak. I also experienced this growing up: I felt that the great pain I experienced was a dramatisation.

Time to Talk is all about tackling taboos and getting the nation talking about mental health.

There's such a stigma around mental illness, and this idea that you're going to come off as disturbed or weak somehow by being open about these things. I've never felt embarrassed or shy talking about it; it's such an integral part of my life.

There are people with much bigger profiles than mine who are talking about mental illness. I am going to try to use whatever platform I have, whatever voice I have to help eliminate the stigma.

In India, there is a huge stigma attached to one having a mental illness; this not only makes it worse for the sufferer but also for their caregivers.

We need to do more to raise awareness of perinatal mental health illness and address the stigma that still surrounds it in our society.

I love bipolar people.

I love therapy. I talk about it a lot because I feel like, especially among black people, it's stigmatized.

I'm a mental-health advocate big time, so I think it's great when depression is a thing that's discussed out in the open, because it's still way too stigmatized.