EUROPA NEWSWIRE.
Photo by Joel Quebec.
BAGHDAD – Ambassadors from the land of Hollywood visited Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers, here, Sept. 4.
The visit wasn't the typical, run of the mill, morale visit from actors
and actresses. This time, the actors and actresses had an important
message to bring.
Their message was to raise awareness of mental illness in a tour called "Stomp the Stigma."
Designed as an effort to strip away the shame and other bad
connotations associated with having a disease of the mind or psyche,
"No Kidding, Me Too!", a nonprofit organization, presented the program
to help people better understand mental illnesses.
"'No Kidding, Me Too!' is an advocacy organization of celebrities to
educate and to advocate the purpose of removing the stigma attached to
mental illness and breaking down societal barriers," said Joe
Pantoliano, actor and founder of the organization during his recent
visit to Victory Base Complex. "We seek to empower those with mental
illness, to admit their illness and to embrace their openness to seek
treatment."
Pantoliano, along with fellow thespian Lisa Jay and psychiatrist, Dr.
Robert Irvin, talked to Soldiers about mental illness and related their
own experiences.
Soldiers were invited to provide feedback on their experiences which
may have contributed to a state of mental unease for them. According to
Irvin, gathering feedback is an effort to better understand and treat
disorders such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
"The things that you experience, they are not military problems, they
are human problems that happen to occur in the military," said Irvin to
the assembled Soldiers. "When you come home, educate us. We need to
hear your stories. It will help us help you and it will also help us
help other people to alleviate human suffering on all planes."
Pantoliano, affectionately referred to as "Joey Pants," refers to his
work as a labor of love, extending from his own battle with mental
illness. "I'm sharing my experience, my mental illness – I'm mentally
ill," he said. "Doing this, I'm letting go of a little of it and it
helps me to regulate my day today, dealing with my personal disease."
For Jay, being able to come out and relay their message is a special treat.
"Right now, this is coming in a really timely fashion because it's been
in the press so much lately at home and I think everybody at home wants
to help this cause," she said. "I know the military is especially
concerned; they've been willing to be very proactive and they obviously
really care about their men and women, so it's an honor for us to be a
part of this."
Soldiers walked away from the presentation with a little more knowledge
than they had when they came in. Having stars of stage and screen come
out and relay their own battles with mental illness helped convey the
message that it can happen to anybody.
The ambassadors closed with a strong statement to Soldiers: don't be afraid to seek treatment because you are not alone.
Source: Multi-National Division Baghdad.
Story by Sgt. Joshua Risner.
