diyhealth.com

How to approach mental health without stigma—3 things you should know

Mental health illnesses have a bad reputation. Just think back to the last time you were in a public space and you noticed a person talking to him or herself. Did you inch away? Avoid that person’s gaze? Try not to engage? The truth is, that’s common behavior. Why? Because of the stigma around mental health illnesses. Like most stigmas, time and education will help generate a more unbiased way of approaching this illness. 

Almost 1 in 5 people suffer from a mental illness each year and accordingly, programs for mental health are on the rise as effective means for treating such illnesses. Despite all this, misconceptions about such illnesses run rampant. Here is what you should know that will help you better understand the challenges faced by mental illness sufferers:

  1. It’s a medical condition 

Young  woman sad  sitting on floor

This is not about a mood, or a bad hair day, or a personality defect. People who suffer from mental illnesses are suffering from a medical condition. A cancer patient will be treated with sympathy and compassion and urged to seek care. But a person suffering from depression or an anxiety disorder is likely to be told an aphorism and told to buck up. This is where stigma and misconceptions about mental illnesses become glaringly visible. Mental illnesses require medical treatment and are often caused by an imbalance of brain chemicals. Various forms of therapy can help sufferers recover. But just because a therapy session involves talking does not make it less “legitimate” as a chemo session or surgery.

  1. Stigma can be public or self-inflicted 

Teenager girl sitting outdoor depressed

According to many studies done over the last 15 years, a wide range of people hold stigmas over mental health illnesses. Results of such stigmas from the public, or an outside source, usually meant a loss in friendships, gossip, social rejection, etc. Many people shun mental health sufferers for fear of violent tendencies, even when such fears were unwarranted. A pervasive belief is that people suffering from mental illnesses are dangerous. This belief is often entirely inapplicable to a huge number of people who have some form of mental health issue.

Due to these and other erroneous beliefs, a person who has grown up around this kind of stigma will be less likely to seek treatment. Self-inflicted stigma stems from internalizing wrong assumptions about mental illnesses. And can lead to various limiting beliefs that can cause one to think that he or she will never be able to lead a normal life, or recover from a mental illness.

  1. Stigmas can be reversed

Pair of two young people on white background

Popular or widely held beliefs regarding some aspect of society can be reversed. It used to be that there was stigma associated with being divorced, or even being a working mother. With enough education and awareness on a topic, however, assumptions can be adjusted to tell a more complete story. This does not happen effortlessly. It often requires the stigmatized group to do what they can for their voices to be heard.

If you or someone you know has a mental illness, seek treatment. Refuse to let the worry over how it will look to others deter you from getting help. This is the first thing you can do in reversing stigma in your own life.

Next, realize your voice can educate your friends or family regarding mental illness stigma. Joining a support group can often give a person the required courage to speak out about their experience. People who have faced or are facing what you are going through can be a source of tremendous courage during this time. Your local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness is a good place to start.

Refuse to feel ashamed or embarrassed over your mental illness. Liken it to any other medical condition and address and approach it similarly, with an eye toward your recovery.

Article Submitted By Community Writer

Today's Top Articles:

Scroll to Top