'The Stigma Of Mental Illness'

The disparity in treatment has been attempted to be remedied over the eras. Bills and Acts put into place in the 20th and 21st centuries have seeked to improve care and reduce stigma around those with mental illness. This began in 1942, when Harry Truman signed the National Mental Health Act, which requested the formation of a National Institute of Mental Health. Shortly after this, in 1949, the National Institute of Mental Health was established (“National Institute of Mental Health”). During the company’s 60 year lifespan they have focused on research about mental illness, educating the public, and improving the lives of the mentally ill by working to pass laws. One law that seeks to reduce the stigma of mental illness is the Mental Healths Service Act of California. "California 's Historic Effort To Reduce The Stigma Of Mental Illness: The Mental Health Services Act" from the American Journal Of Public Health illustrates how the Act will make improvements. Families and individuals who have experienced stigma had a big role in the process, specifically with developing a 10 year plan, the California Strategic Plan on Reducing Mental Health Stigma and Discrimination. One component of the Act discussed is the work plan developed by California Mental Health Services Authority, which has three components: stigma and discrimination reduction, student mental health, and suicide prevention. Organizations such as the NIMH have made efforts resulting in the evolution of mental

7. Lt Col Chris Karns, "Eliminating Stigma: A Leadership Responsibility," U.S. Air Force, 02 September 2014,

In the past, extensive research has been documented on the relationship between mental illness and stigma. Decades of research have also been done on stereotypes of men and women. However, studies done on mental illness and stigma rarely have an emphasis on gender differences, which hugely contributes to the way stigma is perceived (Chandra & Minkovitz, 2006, p. 19). Mental illness stigma is a belief that individuals with mental illnesses are different; individuals dealing with mental illness are commonly labeled as weird, attention seeking, crazy, incompetent, and other negatively biased connotations. The attitude of stigma towards mental illness leads to discrimination and discouragement and is a barrier to living a life of full potential.

One of the biggest contributors for poor healthcare is the stigma against mental health. This stigma allows healthcare providers to view those with a mental illness as having low relevance, thus creating disinclination towards providing adequate resources and/or care. This negative stance, based on misinformation and prejudice creates those that have a mental illness to lose their self confidence. Because of this loss, people with mental illness decide not to contribute to their health or livelihood. In the past fifty years, many advances have been made in mental healthcare. However, with the attached stigma, many people choose to not seek out treatment.

(Hook) Imagine your future child. You want them to be happy and healthy right? Every parent does. Not counting those few crazy ones. So your child is now a teenager, and for a week straight they couldn’t get out of bed. They don’t have a physical illness or virus. This isn’t a case of the flu or mono. Your child is diagnosed with a mental illness and every few months they are succumbed to the deep depth of sadness. They stop taking their medicine, because they are embarrassed by their disease, because everyday at school, they are bombarded by people who don’t understand what they are going through and think they are making it up. They don’t want you to have to deal with this illness and the stigma surrounding it, so they lock it away and you

The PSA (refer to appendix A), depicts a picture of the stigma that is attached to mental illness, in the form of “labeling”. Words such as crazy strange, cuckoo, retard, disturbed, etc. were used. The PSA showed an individual (with a mental illness or learning disability) trying to block out these words from entering her head. The most interesting thing, which is the part of the PSA that really got my attention, was a phrase, “sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will also hurt me.” Stigmatization and stereotyping don't only stem from the uninformed public, but also from professionals that are trained in mental health disciplines.

In the niagara region 17% of secondary students having seriously considered suicide (Niagara Region Public Health). Stigma against mental health creates barriers for these students who are struggling and I feel that it is a major issue within Niagara that needs action. Stigma against mental health touches everyone regardless of if you are struggling, diagnosed with an illness or have never had an issue or involvement with the world of mental health because chances are you know someone who struggles or you might find yourself struggling one day. Mental heath has the capacity to touch everyone, including myself, so how do we limit the fear and the stigma surrounding mental health?

It is estimated that 43.5 million Americans, adults 18 or older, live with mental illness. This number represents 18.1% of all U.S. adults (National Institute of Mental Health, 2014). Stigma toward those who are seen as different have existed for as long as civilization itself, with the stigma for mental illness being one of the most prominent and long lasting that society has had to face throughout its ages (Arboleda-Florez & Stuart, 2012). Increased understanding and awareness for those individuals suffering from mental illness is necessary for us to overcome the impacts stigma has on our society.

Counselors can reduce the stigma related to mental illness among African American by making it easy for the client to trust them. The client needs to know that is okay to seek help for their mental illness and how to cope with the illness. If there were more African American in the mental health field than many would be willing to accept counseling. They would feel like someone can relate to

Corrigan argues that clinical diagnosis might exacerbate the stigma of mental illness. In Corrigan’s study clinical diagnosis adds groupness for the collection of people with mental illness which worsens the level of prejudice (Corrigan 34). Corrigan states that this ultimately leads to overgeneralization, as there is an assumption that all individuals diagnosed with the same mental disorders behave the same way (Corrigan 34). According to Corrigan the stereotypic description of mental illness perceives to the public that, people with diagnosis are not likely to recover from those disorders, which can lead to pessimistic attitudes from the public (Corrigan 35). Corrigan suggests that one of the solutions is to understand the diagnosis

Mental illness is one of the most stigmatized medical conditions in society. People diagnosed with mental illnesses experience a difficult social life, where most of the community members harbor prejudicial attitudes toward them. Undoubtedly, having a mental illness profoundly affects how an individual interacts with the rest of the community in various issues. More often than not, the social consequences of mental disorders are negative since persons with the illness are naturally disadvantaged compared to their typical counterparts. For example, in education, jobs, relationships, and a host of other socially significant areas, individuals diagnosed with mental illness encounter insurmountable challenges (Baldwin and Marcus 390). This paper analyzes ten journal articles that have researched on the effects of stigma toward mental illnesses and highlights some of the social consequences that victims are faced with on a daily basis.

Stigma can be expressed in various term, it can be a brand, labelling or identification. It is a differentiation of a person resulting to a boundary between “us” and “them” (Link and Phelan 2001). These affect consumers in a way they are discriminated and treated differently because they have mental illness. The effect of stigma can take away the rights of consumers who are suffering from mental illness causing social dilemmas (SANE Australia 2013). A survey shows 74% of consumers experience stigma from school, work, and social activities. Consumers had only one feedback, to reduce stigma so they can go with their life peacefully and engage in normal social activities without discrimination (SANE Australia 2006). It is

Mental Illness is a universal health issue which causes mass amounts of suffering amongst the general population. It can become a majorly debilitating when subjected to a psychiatric illness, however, this is not entirely due to the undesirable symptoms from the conditions themselves but also the stigma that’s inherently linked to the label of being “mentally ill”. The negatively stigmatized views cause shame, ostracism, and marginalization among the mentally ill and some even describe the consequences of stigma as being worse than the condition its self (The, 2016). Because of this, those in need of help often refrain from seeking treatment in order to avoid being diagnosed and becoming susceptible to the stigma associated with the label. It’s estimated that in any given year 30% of the global population will be affected by a mental health disorder and two-thirds of these people will not seek the care that they require (Ngui, Khasakhala, Ndetei & Roberts, 2010). Stigma has been shown to be a clear barrier that is partly responsible for this lack of help-seeking behavior (Wrigley, Jackson, Judd & Komiti, 2005). Therefore, health organizations need to look at anti-stigma programs that break down these barriers that restrict the mentally ill from seeking treatment.

Mental illness can present itself in various ways. Mental illness could come as many forms such as anxiety, depression, eating, or substance abuse. Mental illness is a harmful demon that haunts many people every day. The physical and emotional damage that mental illness can inflict on its sufferer is debilitating, but this negative experience can be further amplified by the stigma surrounding mental illness.

I really liked reading our post. I find it very interesting that whenever rural areas are talked about the first thing that normally comes up is the lack of resources and funds. The wrap around service should be implemented in rural areas. I think that it will definitely make a positive impact on the community. Honestly I think that the stigma of mental health plays a big role throughout the rural community. Since the rural community has lack of fund that have to spend their money in what they think is the most important to them. Unfortunately mental health is not one of those things. This is why the wrap around service needs to be applied.