The Analogy of a Broken Arm

My name is Sama Oweimreen and my personal projects goal was to tackle the misconceptions of mental illnesses due to mental illness stigmatization by addressing one of the most stigmatized illnesses, Schizophrenia. In addition to raising awareness about how mental illness stigma effects a person’s health and their ability to participate in opportunities such employment, building relationships, accommodation and education. I applied this knowledge by communicating with multiple psychologists in order to gather artworks done by people that are diagnosed with schizophrenia, each expressing a certain unique way it has affected their lives and create a booklet that consists of these art works along with an analysis on how the main idea of the artwork is conveyed through the use of different artistic elements. One of the biggest challenges that I have faced throughout working on my project was having no practical experience in dealing with this illness. So I had to acquire proper analytical and research skills in order to gain enough knowledge about it through different methods of research. Exploring the global context “fairness and development” allowed me to gain a better understanding of the main reason behind stigma which is the ignorance of the public about this topic. As this issue grows, the prejudice towards people with mental illnesses develops as well. Developing the awareness of the public about this topic is a big step towards achieving fairness for people with mental conditions. This exploration also helped me gain a different perspective of stigma, considering it is a wide topic with many interconnecting topics, this global context uncovers issues within our society that need to be addressed. My project has been highly educational, besides gaining a better understanding of the topic, I have learned to work more efficiently. I have also been inspired to continue in this field of study in my academic future, as I have enjoyed learning about it. This project created a base of information that will help me further explore my passion for this topic.