Storytelling saves lives: Reducing stigma is personal for 阿宾顿 professor

阿宾顿,爸爸. -他们的个人生活和职业生涯都处于 格伦多 and 艾琳·加拉格尔 at the forefront of battling the stigma surrounding mental illness, 物质使用, 成瘾和弱势群体. 这对搭档是10月的幕后推手. 12 .性能 这是我的勇敢，易胜博娱乐分校的节目, which features original performances by community members who have suffered from the impact of stigma. 

斯特纳，助理教授 刑事司法 在阿宾顿，加拉格尔，执行董事 这是我的勇敢公司., recently sat down to share their motivations and advice for managing stigma and how live performances are an effective way to jump start difficult conversations.   

Question: How did you arrive at a place where your work centers on reducing stigma? 

艾琳·加拉格尔: 2016年，我的儿子杰伊(Jay)自杀身亡. We had had conversations in our family about hard things including suicide, 但我们从没想过这种事会发生在我们身上. 他没有明显表现出痛苦的迹象. He wasn’t in treatment, and it was stigma that held him back from asking for help. 我儿子成绩很好, and we don’t often see examples of people who are thriving with mental health conditions. People who live with mental health conditions often look like you and me, 尽管他们经历了这些，但他们似乎生活得很好.  

我遇到了詹妮弗·马歇尔, 《易胜博》的创始人, 她告诉我她正在做的工作是为了消除耻辱感. 当我看到《易胜博》的表演时, I knew this was where I wanted to spend my energy for the rest of my life. 我们知道耻辱会阻止人们寻求帮助, 每次我分享我家庭的故事, 这是有区别的. I’m grateful that it opens conversations and makes connections possible.  

格伦多: 我参加了一个药物滥用会议, and another researcher wanted to talk to community members in a coffee shop. At the time the opioid crisis was fairly new to public discussion, and a woman came up afterward. 她说, “我儿子是易胜博的学生, but he is now in the 刑事司法 system because he was running pills across state lines to feed his 物质使用 disorder. 我没人可以倾诉. I can't tell my friends because they would think badly of us, and our family wouldn’t trust him. 我们身上有黑色的污点.“这个陌生人向我倾诉了她的心声, 所以我决定我一定要做这件事.  

I worked with support from the Independence Blue Cross Foundation and the 宾西法尼亚 Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs to start the 故事驱动计划, which gives everyday people a platform to share their experiences and dispel myths. 晚些时候, 我在犹他州参加了《易胜博》节目, and I realized there was a direct connection to the 故事驱动计划. 在一起工作感觉非常自然.  

就我个人而言, 我认为自己是LGBTQ群体的一员, and I know how it feels not to be respected and to have laws that say I don’t have rights. 当我向家人出柜的时候, I wasn’t allowed to eat at the dinner table anymore because of the stigma surrounding AIDS. I have younger siblings and cousins who are gay and transgender so we stuck together, 我和他们有着非凡的关系. 你可以进行艰难的对话, 通过让别人看到你，你就有可能消除耻辱感. 我现在有了一个很棒的丈夫，我可以合法结婚了. 我的故事是想让人们知道生活是不公平的, 但机会也随之而来. 不要让孤立持续下去，不要建立联系. 

Question: Why are the arts and performance art in particular so effective in tackling stigma? 

艾琳·加拉格尔: 艺术是心灵的语言, and I think a poem that expresses shame and then hope can strike people in their hearts. It’s less of an intellectual exercise, and it gives power to the storyteller. Many of the This Is My Brave performers have never been given permission to share their stories before. You receive affirmation by sharing, and it is extremely powerful for the storyteller. 当我经历了一件让我痛苦的事, 我把它变成了一件艺术品, 这是可以庆祝的, 赞赏和肯定.  

格伦多: 我最喜欢的一句话我认为对我们的工作很重要的一句话是, “如果你想靠什么生活的话, 你必须放弃它.“我们真的希望别人关心和尊重我们的故事, 所以分享的概念是非常重要的. It also ensures that it no longer just lives in your head, and it can be passed on. Performances can increase that ripple effect and increase impact, and that’s what we want. 我认为这是一种消除污名的干预措施. 这也是一种人类的经历. 我认为这是一个难得的机会，不仅可以解决耻辱问题, 同时也赋予人们重获力量的技能和能力. 我们希望人们能写出自己的故事. 

Question: What is the impact of This Is My Brave on the performers and 观众? 

艾琳·加拉格尔: This Is My Brave is for 观众, but the work is also for the storytellers. 我们正在建立社区. 我每天都在考虑是否要讲我的故事. It is freeing to share that portion of yourself even if it’s just to one person. I hope people contemplate the benefits of storytelling in their own lives. 《易胜博》让我以一种不同的方式看待我的经历. I hope people start conversations and find people who are safe to be vulnerable with. 我们让人们能够把名字和面孔放到他们的故事中. When we do this, we break down the stigma and normalize the experiences. 它带走了让他们陷入沉默和痛苦的力量. 

格伦多: As you leave the performance, I hope you think about stigma differently. 不管是谁看——无论是表演者, 观众, or even those who can’t come — I want them to be a little more open-minded and supportive of others. 打破围绕耻辱的墙需要很长时间, and people need to work through their own perspectives if we are hoping for change. 我们可以通过很多方式对社会产生影响, 其中之一就是在易胜博娱乐分校举办《易胜博》节目. As a land-grant institution, it’s not enough to host educational experiences. 我们需要利用我们的工作成果来改善社会. 

关于《易胜博》在易胜博娱乐分校的节目 

10个社区成员将分享他们的原创音乐, 独白, 诗歌和口语片段以及斯特纳的评论, Gallagher and other experts about fighting the stigma surrounding many human conditions.  

当: 10月. 12点7点.m.

地点: Sutherland Auditorium at 宾州州立大学阿宾顿分校, 伍德兰道1600号, 阿宾顿, PA 19001

资讯及门票

关于宾大阿宾顿 

易胜博娱乐分校提供了一个负担得起的, 为其多元化的学生群体提供无障碍和高影响力的教育. It is committed to student success through innovative approaches to 21st-century public higher education within a world-class research university. 有3个以上,100名学生, 宾州州立大学阿宾顿分校 is a residential campus that offers bachelor’s degrees in 25 majors, 本科研究, 施赖尔荣誉学院, NCAA三级田径和更多.