External Stereotypes Of Mental Illness

Mental health stigma can be divided into two distinct types: Social stigma – Social stigma is extreme disapproval of (or discontent with) a person or group based on socially characteristic grounds that are perceived, and serve to distinguish them, from other members of a society. Stigma may then be affixed to such a person, by the greater society, which differs from their cultural norms. Self-stigma – Is the internalizing by the mental health sufferer of their perceptions of discrimination. Those with mental health needs have shame of reporting as they may think that no one believes them.

Walking into “Briarcliff Manor”, the psychiatric hospital in American Horror Story: Asylum, immediately you hear patients screaming in your ear, the smell of rust from the chains staff use to restrain them, you can feel the tension between the staff and the patients and if you go into the day room you see people banging their heads on the wall, staring into space, fidgeting endlessly, or talking to someone who isn’t there. Patients are held in cell-like rooms with only a little-barred window and a small opening that staff can slide their food through. The show goes as far as to show a doctor using the patients to “experiment” during which he created “Raspers” which were mutated versions of the patients and were fed deceased patients. Psychiatric hospitals have always been portrayed as a horrifying place to go, American Horror Story hasn't helped that stereotype. It is true that psychiatric hospitals have treated their patients terribly, that was almost seventy years ago. Since then long-stay psychiatric hospitals have been closed with more services to truly help these patients, along with the hospitals have gained laws that need to be followed, there are no hospitals that treat people as inhumanely as hospitals have in the past. These stereotypes scare people from going into a psychiatric hospital to receive the help they truly need because of shows portraying the mentally ill in such a negative way. The mentally

There are roughly around 400 million individuals, nationwide that suffer from a mental illness. Within the group of mentally ill individuals, there are several of them that are not being treated. One reason that effects individuals for seeking treatment is the stereotypes about mental ill which governs mentally healthy people’s judgement. Thus, harsh judgement from “normal” individuals affect the outcome for mentally ill seeking treatment. Not just mentally healthy individuals hold stereotypes, but mental health nurses tend to carry the same stereotypes that steer their perspective on mental patients. In the mental facilities, there are low rate of staff that have the appropriate requirement for taking care of mental patients. Several

Several months ago, I assisted in the care of a psychiatric patient who harbored ill-will towards Hispanics. While helping care for him the patient uttered belittling remarks about me and at one point stated that he wished to "kill Hispanics". I was offered early in his visit to be unassigned from his care team. I refused. In medicine one must be able to be courteous, professional and objective at all times, and I refused to let his comments deter me from helping him get the best care

Including medical staffs tends to discriminate against mentally ill patients when it comes to care. In other words, mentally ill patients do not receive the proper care due to stereotypes which affect patient and nurses bond. For instance, a study has shown that nurses that work in the mental health care would have a negative attitude on patients that would say they had a mental disorder (Ross & Goldner 2009). The factor being, the stereotypes that the nurses carry shape their perspective on mental ill patients, like the mentally healthy individuals that are not working in the field. There should be aim for a proper care for the individuals that are seeking treatment for the mental patients. As Ross and Goldner claim that the negative

As research continues to improve and provide more evidence in the field of mental health, society is becoming more accepting of new views on mental illnesses. Nevertheless, some people still stigmatize patients with mental health disorders. There are two types of mental health stigma: social stigma is the prejudicial attitudes and discriminating behaviors directed toward people with mental health problems, while self-stigma is the internalizing by the person with mental health illness of their perceptions of discrimination; perceived stigma can significantly affect feelings of shame and lead to poorer treatment outcomes.

Stigma has been said to be “a feeling of being negatively differentiated owing to a particular condition, group membership or state in life”(Arboleda-Florez & Stuart, 2012, p. 458). There are typically two types of mental illness stigma that are discussed. Public stigma, also known as societal stigma, is the stigma associated with the prejudicial attitudes the public holds towards those people who suffer from mental illness (Arboleda-Florez & Stuart, 2012; Corrigan, Markowitz, Watson, Rowan & Kubiak, 2003). Self-stigma, also known as internalized stigma, is the loss of self-esteem, withdrawal, and personal shame that some with mental illness will experience. Self-stigma is usually developed when those who suffer from mental illness associate the negative stereotypes the public holds with themselves (Chronister, Chou, & Lieo, 2013; Corrigan et al., 2003).

Last week was the first time I step into a mental institution. It was very overwhelming to realize that children are also confined in these facilities. I had the misconception that only young adults and the elderly were affected by different mental disorders. However, I have always been interesting about the functioning of the brain and the different circumstances that affect people behaviors. Where I am from, children who misbehave are not send to a mental institution; they are usually judge and neglect by their parents and society.

Many Americans picture people with mental illness as someone crying, frowning, and usually looking pretty down in the dumps. If you Google mental illness, this is the image results you see. If you see a brochure in a doctor's office, this is the image you see. The “You are not alone” posters from the National Alliance on Mental Illness often placed in public bathrooms frequently have someone looking somber, or a blue frowning face (Gleason, 2013). As a result of the images that Americans see daily, there is a connection that mental illness equals sadness.

Negative attitude and stereotypes are often associated with mental illness rather than physical illness. This is because behavior and attitude are associated with the cognitive perspective of mind. So, the brain and mental processes are responsible for human understanding, beliefs, and attitudes. On the other hand, physical illnesses do not cause mental and cognitive symptoms rather they cause physical health-related symptoms. Explanation: Stereotypes associated with people suffering from mental problems: Some of the stereotypes associated with mental illness are that people with mental problems are dangerous, substance abuse and other similar disorders are self-inflicted, and people with mental problems are hard to talk to.

“I want to be able to talk to someone in a pub and say ‘I have been mentally ill’ and for them to say ‘That’s interesting, what did you experience?’”, said a survivor from the UK in 1997 (Sayce 18). Almost twenty years later and this man 's wish still has not come true. People may ask why, and the answer is because of the stigma that comes along with having a mental illness. Mental illness is something not often talked about because of the fear of being judged. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in every four Americans has a mental illness, and only about 40% of them seek professional help (Hamid). People are being put into mental institutions instead of getting the help that they need to get better, because even people in the medical field are not understanding about this situation because they do not understand how it feels. The stigma and stereotypes towards mental illnesses are overwhelming, therefore people should be made aware of their impact and take steps to reduce stigma and stereotypes.

Erving Goffman defined stigma as “the situation of the individual who is disqualified from full social acceptance” and “an undesired differentness from what we had anticipated” (Goffman, 1963). According to Thornicroft, Rose, Kassam, and Sartorius (2007), stigma comprises ignorance (lack of knowledge), prejudice (stigmatizing attitudes), and discrimination (being treated unfairly, a behavior concept). The Haghighat (2001) model of public stigma represents people’s social and psychological reactions to someone perceived to have a stigmatized condition. According to this model, stigmatization has three components: cognitive (based on stereotypes such as “schizophrenics are violent”), affective (fear and anxiety), and behavioral (avoidance and discrimination). (p. 251)

Stigmas have the same basic start as a stereotype, a couple of cases becomes the generalization for an entire group or status. Stigmas go one step further and become a paradigm that the general public may live under. As Dockery expressed when he stated stigmas “…can be considered a multifaceted concept involving: labelling; negative stereotyping; separation of ‘them’ from ‘us’; status loss and discrimination, leading to multiple inequalities” (Dockery et al pg. 613). Add the diagnosed people and the non-diagnosed to the stigma equation and a cyclic nature reveals itself. For the purpose of relating this to what has been said, the beginning of the stigmatization process will be the media. The media portrays the diagnosed as deranged murderers because “…mental illness have been shown to strongly attract readers’ attention…” (Vahabzadeh et al pg. 440). This projection of the diagnosed translates to a limited amount of information that the public has on the illness. In order to fill in the void, the public takes the information that it has, the negative portrayals, and accepts them. This then becomes the stigma on Schizophrenia. That negative status is now placed on the diagnosed. The diagnosed then lose some of the credibility and begin to have more inequalities. The people who experience said inequalities are now matching the description of what the stigma says. They accept and adopt the

There is a stigma in our country regarding mental health and its treatment. These stigma are divided between social stigma and perceived or self-stigma. Social stigma are those that society places negative feelings towards a certain group, which can lead to discrimination. Perceived or self-stigma are those internalized feelings of the mentally ill individual on how they feel society views them. Both types of stigma can lead to negative feelings of the mentally ill individual through feelings of shame, depression, hopelessness, and anxiety. Current policies on mental health are limited by federal legislation and may only address the aspect of public discrimination.

Individuals with serious mental illness are doubly affected by their disease; not only do they experience the often debilitating symptoms of their condition, but they must also endure mundane mental health stigmas and prejudices. Stigmatized attitudes are perceived to be one of the greatest impediments to living a complete and fulfilling life. Stigma has been defined as a combination of three related problems: ignorance, prejudice and discrimination (Rose, Thornicroft, Pinfold, & Kassam, 2007). Ignorance implies a lack of knowledge, prejudice entails negative attitudes, and discrimination involves exclusionary actions against people deemed to be different. Two forms of stigma are commonly distinguished in literature. Public stigma describes the attitudes of society towards people with mental illness, while self-stigma results from the internalization of prejudice by people who suffer from mental health conditions (Corrigan, Powell, & Rüsch, 2012). The World Health Organization announced that stigma was the most crucial obstacle to overcome for a community to functioning effectively and efficiently (Ontario Hospital Association, 2013).