Somerville artist Sean Shinnock is participating in a new mental health awareness and anti-stigma campaign expected to reach several million  people.

He, along with musicians and librarians, fashion designers and fitness instructors, actors, athletes and artists, moms, dads, sisters and brothers—all of whom volunteered for the campaign and all of whom have all been affected by mental illness and its stigma—are brought together in a beautiful and compelling new photographic exhibit that debuted Friday, December 9 at Logan International Airport in Boston. The 235-foot gallery is located between Terminals B and C, and plans are already underway to install similar exhibits at other airports. For those who won’t be traveling through Boston in the near future, the participants’ photos and stories can be seen on the campaign’s website, deconstructingstigma.org.

The exhibit is part of a national public awareness campaign sponsored by McLean Hospital, in collaboration with Logan Airport and several mental health advocacy groups, with the goal of changing the way mental illness is perceived. Deconstructing Stigma:  A Change in Thought Can Change a Life features dramatic, larger-than-life photographs of courageous people who have shared their stories with the hope of changing how people with psychiatric illness are viewed.

“Shame and stigma are still far too prevalent when it comes to psychiatric disease and can contribute to the fear and isolation many people feel.  Deconstructing Stigma is an unprecedented effort to spark conversation about behavioral and mental health,” said Scott L. Rauch, president and psychiatrist in chief of McLean Hospital.

Shinnock, 36, has lived with obsessive compulsive disorder since his teens and was the first person to volunteer for the campaign.

Somerville artist Sean Shinnock

He had his first panic attack at age 13. His mom was losing her battle with cancer, and at school, he was picked on and his grades were falling.

In his mind, having any negative thought while performing a basic task meant a member of his family would be harmed or he would harm them. Forcing his head to be free of anything bad meant an hour of flipping a light switch on and off before he could leave a room, or so many attempts at putting his pants on that his shins suffered permanent scars. As Shinnock grew into his 20s, he would mask his obsessive worries with denial and avoidance by way of binge drinking.

“I decided I would escape on the weekends with my friends, and during the week, I wasn’t going to live, I was just going to exist,” he explained.

His OCD eventually became so advanced that doctors referred him to an intensive three-month residential program. It was a monumental success. 

 Today, Shinnock is an accomplished artist and working on ways to help those with mental health disorders express their feelings through art.

Also lending his voice to the campaign—literally—is Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, the founding member of the legendary hip hop group Run-DMC.  Although he seemed to have everything a person could want, what the public couldn’t see was that depression and alcohol abuse were destroying his spirit and his body.

“I had everything—I was the King of Rock—we were touring, making money, and everyone knew who we were.  But I didn’t feel right and not a day passed that I didn’t think about suicide,” Darryl said.

Today, Darryl, 52, is back in the recording studio, has a best-selling book about his experience with mental illness, and has become a vocal mental health advocate.

Blending celebrities, such as DMC and Howie Mandel, with everyday people is a key component to the campaign because mental illness does not affect only one demographic or group. In fact, one in five Americans will be diagnosed with a mental illness this year.

Despite the concerns about being labeled and risking further stigma, the volunteers in this project are sharing their stories of hope and resilience so that the public can have an opportunity to “walk in their shoes” and perhaps step away with a different view of what it’s like to have a mental illness.

“Each person associated with this project is determined to make a difference in the lives of other people affected by mental illness,” said Adriana Bobinchock, senior director of Public Affairs and Communications for McLean, whose team is spearheading the campaign. “We feel we’ve created a campaign that is meaningful and impactful, and one that has the potential to change someone’s life.”

Shinnock echoed that sentiment.

“I want to help others who struggle with mental illness know that they are not alone,” said Shinnock. “I still struggle some days, but I am confident enough, hopeful enough, inspired enough, and motivated enough to be a part of this life.”

In addition to partnering with Logan Airport, McLean Hospital collaborated with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the International OCD Foundation, Massachusetts Association for Mental Health, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and PROJECT 375 to develop Deconstructing Stigma:  A Change in Thought Can Change a Life.

McLean Hospital is the largest psychiatric affiliate of Harvard Medical School and a member of Partners HealthCare. For more information about McLean, visit mcleanhospital.org or follow the hospital on Facebook or Twitter.