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The
Stigma of Mental Illness The word “stigma”
means “a mark or of shame or discredit; a sign of social
unacceptability.” In mental
illness, “stigma” refers to negative attitudes and beliefs that motivate the
general public to fear, reject, avoid and discriminate against people with
mental illness. Regardless of
your age, no one wants to be rejected and as a result people who may have a
mental illness are afraid to reach out for help, and the results can be
devastating. So how do we
get rid of stigma? First, we must
realize how common mental illness really is.
Anyone can get an mental illness. About 10 percent of all Americans will
have a mental illness sometime in their lives, and about 40 percent will be
affected when a friend or family member develops a mental illness.
Mental illness can affect anyone, anywhere, anytime and at any age.
It does not discriminate against gender, religion, race or any other
identifying feature. Look around at
your friends and neighbors, it is possible that at least one person has a mental
illness now, and many others likely will experience on over their lifetime. One of the
first ways to get rid of stigma is to watch what we say.
When you first think of someone with a mental illness, do any of the
following words come to mind: Crazy,
Retarded Weird, Maniac, Drug Addict, Psycho, Insane, Dangerous, violent, Loony,
Sick, Mental, Scary, etc? Imagine being
called any of these words. Or
worse, imagine having a mental illness and feeling that people think of you this
way. You probably would not want to
let anyone know how you are feeling. Its important to fight stigma so people with an illness will be accepted and feel comfortable reaching out and getting the help they need, perhaps they would not attempt to kill themselves. (Revised from “Mental Health Connection of Tarrant County”) |
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