Thanks for your discrimination and stigma

Each and every one of us and each and every one of you reading this post has mental health. It's a fact that we often forget, and it is a fact that we should endeavour to remember.

There's a one in eight chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer in your average woman's life. There's a one in ten chance of developing depression in any one person's life. One in four people have mental health issues and, yet, we're far more open to discussing one topic more than the other. You don't need to be a genius to work out which one it is.

Despite the fact that attitudes are different towards other health issues, and that attitudes towards issues such as sexuality, culture, ethnicity, gender and disabilities are changing, discrimination against people who are suffering with mental health problems are still very widespread. A survey carried out investigating these issues showed that one in ten face discrimination and stigma every single day. 28% of people surveyed waited over a year to tell their families about their mental illnesses and 8.5% of people still haven't told their families. When we think about it, that's a hell of a lot of people.

When we discuss the stigma that surrounds mental health, all we're really discussing is the fear that surrounds the stigma of mental health. People suffer in silence and they don't open up about their mental health because they're scared of what others might say or do to them. It's all about the fear of possibility.

Obviously, I don't really need to say that stigma is bad, but it is. Stigma only adds to the problems that people face when they have a mental illness. Avoidance of the very thing that upsets or distresses you based on your anxieties of other people and what they may or may not think is really not very different to any other social anxiety or OCD behaviour. 58% of people say that the stigma is worse than the illness itself. Stigma has increasingly become a part of the illness of mental health and that's pretty crap.

I used to be one of those people that feared opening up about my issues, because I was so scared that I would be discriminated against, and treated differently for my mental health issues. Unfortunately, in my case, I was right to be fearful. I was told to "man up" a lot of the time. I was told I didn't need the medication that was necessary for my wellbeing at the time. I was told to cheer up, and that things would look better in the morning (of course, it never did.) People treated me like a china doll the minute they found out I had depression and anxiety disorder, being extra sensitive about what they were saying around me for fear they would upset me further, and constantly watching me out of the corners of their eyes, It was really annoying and obviously, none of it helped. All the people who said those things and treated me differently hurt me in more ways than they could possibly know at the time. Now I see that they were, and maybe still are narrow minded and foolish. But, instead of being angry about it, and instead of feeling sad about it, I should thank them.

Now I look back on when I first came out of my mental health closet I realise that the stigma surrounding mental health that bred the way I was treated actually did me a favour in the long run. The attitude towards me after I came out made me feel pretty defeatist in the short term, (ironically really because everyone was trying to do the exact opposite.) But, in the long run, it spurred me on to get well. People telling me to cheer up, to snap out of it and to stop being so miserable made me realise that, firstly, I didn't need those people in my life and that, secondly, I shouldn't let a bunch of narrow minded and scared people made me feel worse about myself. Your fear of my illness made me realise how much I wanted to stop being ill and made me remove the negative aspects (i.e. you) from my life.

The stigma surrounding mental health is crap and it needs to change. We all know that it does. Why should people with mental health issues be treated any differently because they are struggling with an invisible illness rather than one that can be plainly seen? If we could rewrite the history of the world to make people see mental and physical health combined, then our world would probably be in a much better state mentally.

So thank you to all those people who told me to cheer up and concentrate on what matters or I would never amount to anything, because I'm currently typing this in The Times Newspaper offices in London where I'm on work experience, whilst also revising for an interview for a Masters Course at Cardiff University next week. Thank you to those who said I didn't need the medication because you were right. I probably won't need it very soon. Thank you to all those people who treated me like I was made of glass because I now feel like I'm made of steel and I feel much better for it. But mostly, thank you for spurring me on to get better with your prejudices and fear. I owe you all one.

You can have a business while you're a student

About a year ago, my partner sat me down, looked me very seriously in the eye and said, “Gemma, I’m going to start a company.”

At that point, we had just finished our second year of university and had a whole year left of higher education; I my Bachelors in History and he, his degree in Law and Politics. The idea, now I look back on it, seemed a bit far-fetched. For a while, I don’t think neither he nor I really knew what he wanted the company to specialise in, not to mention what types of products it would market and sell and all the other important things you need to consider when setting up your own business. But, he did have a name, he did have partners who were interested in his ideas and he did have the drive, so we went with it.

A year later and Mayfly Tech is going from strength to strength. Since that day when we sat down and discussed the company, he has gone on with fellow directors (myself included) to establish a strong and close knit team of university students and is starting to get contracts and payment in at this early stage. They are doing incredibly well for themselves already and to say I’m proud is an understatement.

The fact that they’ve achieved this whilst at university makes it all the more exciting and special. Balancing your work life with your social life is never an easy task, but to throw managing a business in there too? It’s pretty impressive. 

Ultimately, what I’m asking is, is it possible to run a company whilst you are a university student? And should you?

Student entrepreneurship has been around for a very long time. It was Harvard students who founded Facebook, an MBA student who set up a fancy ice cream parlour in London, Undergraduates from The University of Virginia who set up Reddit and Newcastle students who now manage their own lingerie business. We’re in a recession here in Britain, but student entrepreneurship, wherever you look, is thriving.

When we think about it logically, university is a pretty good starting point for setting up a business. The pressures that non-student entrepreneurs face to make a profit really aren’t as essential when you are a university student. Sure, extra cash would be nice, but while you are a student, paying back your student loan is in the distant future and with careful use of your loans and overdrafts, you are given a chance to somewhat forget about the financial aspect of your company, and to focus on the products and management of it instead.  

Secondly, like they have done at Swansea University with Mayfly Tech, the business department of the university are often on hand to help out. The people in this department are professionals; they know how business works, they know a good idea from a bad one and they can guide you in the right direction if needs be. Their advice, (and in our case) their guidance has been invaluable to us. If you are considering setting up a business during or even after studying at university, it is essential to utilise the facilities and freely available professional advice. It really does make a difference.

University is an ideal environment for students to develop as people, with freedom to test various career choices. It is also an ideal time for trial and error; a luxury that those who aren’t students, and with full time jobs, do not have. You get several opportunities to work on your business and, if it doesn’t work, you have the freedom to start again in an environment where your ideas and thoughts will be nurtured and supported.  The first business a student launches might well not be a success; statistically, it is likely not to succeed. But the experience not succeeding and starting again is invaluable, and is one that you have more freedom to gain by starting a business at university.

The notion of using your time at university to actually study is a valid argument for not setting up a business during your time there. But let’s think about it; the flexibility students have when at university is astronomical, and is a flexibility that you wouldn’t be able to get if you were employed in a full time job, nor is it likely that you’ll ever get that same flexibility again.  

And if you’re fearful of not being taken seriously, remember all the students of the past who I mentioned above who set their respective businesses up at university. They all probably felt exactly the same, and look where they are now. Any idea is a valid one, and students who want to set up their own businesses must remember and be confident in that.

Starting a business can be a very rewarding and enjoyable experience. Of course, it’s not for everyone, nor should it be, or the world would be full of entrepreneurs and there would be no diversity in what we decide to do with our own lives. If starting a business is a direction you want to go in, the best time to do so is during university.

Of course, I’m not saying that university is a waste of time. Degrees are not useless; they give you a solid grounding, it’s always a positive thing to try to further your knowledge and university life matures you drastically in a very short period of time.  If university is the right path for you, it is a very enjoyable period of your life, with the freedom to experiment and become your own person. In a way, I suppose Mayfly Tech was an experiment to start with, but it has now thrived into something much more. Students shouldn’t have to wait for opportunities to come along. It’s a common misconception that a degree automatically guarantees a job, or that we students have to bide our time and wait three or four years before we can start looking for our dream jobs. We are in the driving seats and we mustn’t become passengers in our own lives.