INNOVATIONS
Fighting Prejudice Against Mental Illness Through Online and Offline Storytelling
Innovations & Impacts
Individuals with mental illness suffer various forms of discrimination from their healthy counterparts, negative and distorted portrayals in the mass media, unfair treatment and reduced opportunities in employment and education, unwelcoming neighbourhoods, and fewer opportunities for social interaction. This prejudice makes it difficult to win public support for helping mental illness sufferers, and also deters sufferers from seeking help from mental health services.
Professor Winnie MAK from the Department of Psychology and her team formed the social action group StoryTaler, co-opting mental illness sufferers into the creation and production of educational and promotional materials, thereby creating important opportunities for social interaction. StoryTaler organises storytelling workshops for the mentally ill, and coaches them to tell stories about themselves that emphasise resilience and human flourishing. They then become part of a “Human Library,” and are encouraged to share their personal stories with the general public and converse with their healthy counterparts about mental health issues. This approach has already empowered many young people, and is providing a valuable social service by promoting mental health knowledge and reducing prejudice against the mentally ill.
StoryTaler has now ripen into a social enterprise to provide systematic training and community events, gradually building a natural support network where the need for professional intervention is minimal. The team has been popular at workshops in schools and corporates alike, with very personal sharing and training on stress management, communication and listening skills. Participants with mental health struggles are empowered to speak up and connect with each other. The innovative and eye-catching posts on their social media page have attracted nearly 40,000 followers. Storytaler is working towards a mentally healthy community, where people talk less and listen more, respect differences, and carry each other through the lows in life.
From Research to Market
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ENTREPRENEURSHIP
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RESEARCH
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SOCIAL IMPACT & PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Supported by the Sustainable Knowledge Transfer Project Fund (S-KPF), Professor MAK and Ms Amanda LI, a clinical psychologist, turned their social action group StoryTaler into a social enterprise in 2019, aiming to promote mental health and reduce psychiatric stigma through social media, public exhibitions, storytelling days, seminars and workshops.
Professor MAK’s research interest lies in stigma and stigma reduction, mental health promotion, as well as personal recovery of mental illness, wherein people with lived experience are encouraged and empowered to live a satisfying, hopeful, and contributing life and pursue personally meaningful goals. Her research drives her to the journey of social entrepreneurship.
StoryTaler’s social media is followed by over 40,000 audiences with over 2,000,000 organic reach. Through their workshops, the social enterprise has served over 2900 participants, including management staff, human resources department, professionals, and frontline staff from corporate; and over 2890 participants, including mental health professionals, teachers, students, parents, and other community members from schools and NGOs. Since 2015, StoryTaler has also been organizing Storytelling Day as an opportunity to connect people with lived experience with the general public in the format of a dialogue.
In addition, StoryTaler has also partnered with SLCO-CR, another social enterprise supported by S-KPF, for the “Touch My Heart Project” to develop the first cross-disciplinary model of sign language bilingual mental health service to help innately deaf young people and adults who communicate in spoken or sign language to receive an appropriate psychological service.
