CHASING THE STIGMA

 How one man is seeking to unify Britain's fight against mental illness

- 

I didn’t know anything about mental health if I’m being honest,” says Jake Mills. “I didn’t know anything about signs or symptoms. It wasn’t something that I was taught about in school or something that I talked about with friends or family. So I didn’t know that what I was feeling was a thing. I didn’t know it was to do with my mental health or that I could get better.”

Mills is an award-winning stand-up comedian and the founder of Chasing The Stigma, a national charity with the aim of normalising the conversation around mental health. What Mills was feeling was anxiety and depression, which became so acute that, in 2013, he attempted suicide.

He chose to share his story on social media, beginning a conversation about something which remains a difficult and at times taboo topic.

“Every time I did an interview, people came to me asking me for help. There’s absolutely nothing unique about me or what I was doing or saying. But there was a power of that lived experience where people thought, well, ‘Here's somebody who gets it. Here’s somebody who understands how I’m feeling.’”

It led to him and his partner setting up Chasing The Stigma and now, the Hub of Hope, a one-stop shop for mental health services accessible online and as an app for iPhone and Android.