Martin Seligman Quotes

The attitudes towards mental health must change

In an ideal world, it would not take a film star to get the media focused on mental illness.

Portray [people with mental illness] sympathetically, and portray them in all the richness and depth of their experience as people, and not as diagnoses.

Propaganda has a negative connotation, which it partially deserves, but I think there is some propaganda that is very positive. I feel that if you can do something that gets people's attention, then maybe they'll go and find out more about the person.

Humor can inform and break down stigma, which is a huge issue in the military.

We decided to speak publicly about suicide because we wanted to make a difference in other people's lives.

Several politicians and wives of politicians have been public about their experiences with depression or bipolar illness, including Lawton Chiles, Patrick Kennedy, Tipper Gore and Kitty Dukakis. Each made a tremendous difference by doing so.

To me, I don't write when I'm depressed. If I'm depressed, which is actually rare, I'm not doing anything, you know, and I'm not able to do anything.

We're becoming so much better at destigmatizing all sorts of things, including mental illness in 'Silver Linings.'

Dementia is often regarded as an embarrassing condition that should be hushed up and not spoken about. But I feel passionately that more needs to be done to raise awareness, which is why I became an ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society.

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.

We must bring the issue of mental illness out into the sunlight, out of the shadow, out of the closet, deal with it, treat people, have centers where people can get the necessary help.

Many politicians, celebrities, businessmen and women, and community leaders now are open about their struggles with mental illnesses, something almost unheard of when I began. Together, we are spreading the word that mental health affects all of us and deserves our support and attention.

The history of the office of First Lady had not been kind to those with mental health issues.

Canadians know me so well - I am part of Canada's collective memory - and my fame would get people through the door who would not otherwise be interesting in talking about mental health.

We need to be open about mental illness, and demand the mental health services we need.

It's not something I'm embarrassed about. Depression is an issue that tends to be brushed under the carpet. My hope is that if people with a public profile are prepared to talk about it, then it might prompt other people to talk about it too.

People treat you one way when you're champion, but when you're not the champion, everything changes. People treat you different.

We enjoy a growing awareness and literacy around the symptoms of and remedies for mental illness. Thanks to brave public figures and persistent campaigners, much of the ignorance and stigma has been reduced.

We had so many of our fans tell us how worthless they felt before they found out about us and watched our interviews and listened to our music.

Mathematicians don't like it when they're associated with mental illness and sort of bristle when you say that they can't get along socially, that they're not good with people.

I wouldn't want to be known as Mr Depression, but I found that when I did dip a toe in the water and talk about it, the response from the public was incredible.

Will occur as time grows more open about it.

Once my loved one accepted the diagnosis, healing began for the entire family, but it took too long. It took years. Can't we, as a nation, begin to speed up that process? We need a national campaign to destigmatize mental illness, especially one targeted toward African Americans. The message must go on billboards and in radio and TV public service announcements. It must be preached from pulpits and discussed in community forums. It's not shameful to have a mental illness. Get treatment. Recovery is possible.

Sometimes it's dramatic, but mental health, as a whole, has to become mainstream.