"Clean Your Target" is the editorial team of people with mental illness at the San Juan de Dios Centers. Our goal is to change the way society and the media view us.
We want to explain what brings us together, how we like to be treated, and help eliminate the prejudices and fears surrounding mental illness so we can be a more active part of society.
The World Health Organization reports that one in four people will suffer from a mental illness in their lifetime. For many, the worst thing won't be the symptoms, but the rejection, ridicule, and prejudice they experience in their work, social, and family environments.
We hope to give a voice to all those currently living with a mental illness and help all those who suffer from one in the future have an easier path. Information is essential to help prevent the same thing from happening to others. In fact, some of us think that if we had had the information we have now, we wouldn't have reached this point.
Clean Your Target Team Video: https://youtu.be/ZPXa3FpuyZg
#WorldDayHealthMental #SSanJuandeGod #Cleanyourgoal
We have the same rights
Like you, we have the right to study, to workâof course, for the same salary as anyone elseâand to be part of society, but it's harder for us to exercise these rights because of the prejudices and misinformation surrounding these diseases.
Added responsibility
In addition to the other responsibilities that any person may have, we believe that in our case, it is also necessary to overcome the prejudices surrounding these illnesses. Having a mental illness doesn't mean we can't work or perform basic life tasks. Science has made great progress on this issue, but not the perspective of the media and the rest of society. We believe we must make greater efforts to integrate.
We have the same needs
We need understanding and patience, to feel useful and loved. To be heard, to think and speak for ourselves. Sometimes, like you, we struggle to express our feelings and need help, but without patronizing. We also have interests, tastes, dreams... and we also have fears.
We have desires, motivations
We fell in love, we wanted to start a family. We like beautiful things and we're happy with the little things, like everyone else. We have hobbies: painting, photography, writing, sports. In fact, one of us will start university this year. We also have fears.
Clear your target: we are not violent
The media is very important to us. We see how violence is very frequently linked to mental illness: "Mentally ill man attacks..." is one of the most common headlines. That doesn't happen with other illnesses. Can you imagine a headline with any other illness as the subject? "Transplant patient attacks..."
We believe your help is necessary to change the negative perception and bring it closer to reality. There is a lot of information missing on this topic, and we are willing to help.
How do you create Clean Your Goal?
This year at San Juan de Dios, we were asked if we wanted to be the ones who spoke to society in the first person. The idea of having our own voice seemed logical to us, neither good nor bad, but logical because we need to express ourselves, like the rest of us who make up society. We are the protagonists of our own lives.
Clean Your Goal is made up of people with mental illness from the San Juan de Dios Centers in Palencia, MondragĂłn, and San SebastiĂĄn.
Source: Castilla Provincial Communication
