An Interview with Sandy Stephenson
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Ohio interviewed Stephenson for its inaugural issue of the NAMI Ohio Stigma Buster, a monthly electronic newsletter devoted to helping eliminate the stigma of mental illness in Ohio. The newsletter published Sept. 30, 2008.
Sandy Stephenson, Director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health, grew up in a healthy and loving home environment. After high school, she went to work for a small company. She married and had a son. A few years later, she divorced and encountered the stress and anxiety that comes with being a single parent. Fortunately she was able to rely on the coping skills that her family had role modeled for her as a child. According to Sandy, "If I had to go through that period of my life with a mental illness, I can’t imagine what I would have done."
Just two years out of high school, a friend of Sandy's took her life by hanging herself in a barn. "That single event was so stunning for me that it ultimately shaped my life," she said. "I took the memory of my friend and all the 'what ifs' I had asked myself and decided to go to college to study social work."
With the help and support of a professor, Sandy was able to secure a scholarship at The Ohio State University. During her studies, she was assigned to do an internship at a mental health center in Columbus. It was there that she grew to understand the complexities of mental illness and the stigma associated with it. "In the mid 1970s, stigma was not even a consideration. The best one could hope for was to move people out of the state hospital, get them on SSI and give them a Medicaid card. That was it. There was no thought given to recovery, employment, or making a contribution."
Sandy's experience working in the Mental Health Center had a tremendous impact on her, and she decided to make that her career. Every day on her way to work, she would drive through one of the poorest sections of Columbus. "I developed a deep respect for those with mental illness whom I would see along the way and during my work day. Over the years, I have truly come to admire the spirit and strength of those who live with persistent and serious mental illness and recognize their incredible potential to contribute to the community. I believe that because of their struggles, their inner core is far stronger than that of people who do not know such struggles."
According to Sandy, "Stigma is simply discrimination based on fear, ignorance and lack of understanding. It is our job [mental health professionals and advocates] to plant ourselves in a position to provide the support necessary to enable those with mental illnes to live full lives in their communities. Seeing people with this illness living full lives is really the greatest stigma buster there is."
Sandy feels her contribution is helping to support people who struggle so they have the ability to maximize their potential. "I get angry when I hear someone in the mental health field say that they are here because they want to cure people with this illness. It is not our role to 'cure' people. We are the catalyst to helping people with mental illness develop a sense of wholeness and fulfillment. This is what gives my life meaning."