Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Jaime Campbell is a young woman with schizophrenia. "When I first got sick," she said, "almost all of my friends gave up on me. One friend even called me a ‘schizoid’. I had been there for them when they needed me, but when I needed them, they were gone. For me, losing my friends is the saddest example of the stigma of mental illness."

An exhibition of NOTHING TO HIDE: Mental Illness in the Family, a touring photo-text display created by the award-winning Family Diversity Projects of Amherst, Mass., will be displayed from Oct. 5 through the end of the month on the first floor of Westside Hall at UNC Wilmington.

NOTHING TO HIDE provides people coping with mental illness and their families an opportunity to come out of the shadows and into the public eye. The compelling stories of children, siblings, parents, grandparents and extended family members demonstrate strength, courage, integrity and accomplishment in the face of adversity and stigma. Mike Campbell, Jaime’s father, said, "Living with mental illness is a struggle and a real test of your faith, but getting through it proves that the human spirit can survive."

This powerful and moving exhibit travels nationwide to mental health centers, hospitals, high schools, colleges, universities, corporations, libraries and faith houses in an effort to help dispel harmful stereotypes, myths and misconceptions about mental illness. NOTHING TO HIDE consists of photographs by Gigi Kaeser and text from interviews conducted by Jean Beard and Peggy Gillespie with individuals and their families whose lives have been affected by schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, major depression and other serious brain disorders.

Images, interviews and other information about the NOTHING TO HIDE exhibit and its companion book can be found online at www.familydiv.org.

Media contact: Kimberly McLaughlin-Smith, 910.962.4274 or smithkm@uncw.edu