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Stigma surrounding mental illness

 

stigma

ˈstɪɡmə/

noun

a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person

 

What is stigma?

 

Stigma is when a person is put in a stereotyped group due to their illness. Three out of four people with a mental illness have experienced stigma, this further isolates them and may increase the symptoms of their condition. When people are faced with stigma they often feel shame, blame, hopelessness, distress and reluctance to seek and/or accept help.

Stigma that surrounds mental health is due to the blatant fact that people do not talk about it. When someone is diagnosed with a more physical condition such as a broken arm or leg they are not embarrassed about it and want to hide their struggles from the world. When someone is diagnosed with a mental illness, due to the stigma that surrounds a mental illness, they do not want to tell people about it because they feel broken or weak. However this is not the case. A mental illness is not something to be ashamed of, it needs to be spoken about and people need to be made more aware of the difficulties of living them a mental illness.

 

How can we stop stigma?

 

Everyone can play a role in helping to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illnesses.

• Become educated about mental illnesses

• Speak up when someone uses negative stereotypes or false statements.  

• Do not reduce people to being just their illness and do not judge them based on their illness

• Done use hurtful words to describe people with an illness – e.g. words such as ‘psycho’ or ‘crazy’ to describe someone with schizophrenia.

• Don’t discriminate

• Show your support for people with mental illnesses by always treating them with respect and encouraging them to seek medical help when sick.

 

Do not be afraid to share your struggles, lighten your load by starting a conversation about mental health.