Welcome to Lives Not Labels and our project, Sorry My Mental Illness Isn't Sexy Enough For You. We designed this to be a space for anyone with a mental health condition. Especially if it’s not a very sexy one.

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In all seriousness, there are conditions out there that we all know that people would like to pretend don’t exist. And we know, because we have them. We know what it feels like to be stigmatised, discriminated against and misunderstood, whether people intend to do it or not. Either way, it feels pretty rubbish.

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When we received our diagnoses, we felt alone, overwhelmed and apprehensive about the future. We quickly realised that if your mental health condition couldn’t be wrapped up in a bow and made to look pretty, it was simply hidden away like an unwanted gift.

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The mental health campaigns shouted at us to “Speak up!” from giant billboards and glossy magazine advertisements. But when we did, we often found that nobody wanted to listen to us.

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Especially when we told stories that didn’t have a happy ending, or were a bit gross, or made us look bad, or called people out on their s***ty behaviour towards us. Particularly that last one. That really makes people not want to listen to us, oddly.

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So that’s why we created Sorry My Mental Illness Isn’t Sexy Enough For You. Yes, we know it’s a bit of a mouthful – it’s meant to be. Mental illness isn’t something that is easy to talk about. It’s awkward and inconvenient and not a polite topic of conversation at the dinner table. Yet we all deserve to have a voice to tell our own truths and realities of mental health.

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And you are welcome here- at our dinner table- no matter how unsexy your mental illness may be.