Destigmatizing Mental Health
September 2nd of the current year, 2013, fell on Labor Day Monday. For many a day of celebration, a day of rest or family reunion. For me it was a day that changed my life completely; a day that I have relived every single day since. My family and I had just spent the weekend in Las Vegas. We had spent a weekend full of smile, laughter and fun and I was ready to go home. We were all packed up and ready to go. My dad and I had left my mom, grandma and daughter at the hotel entrance with our luggage while we went to check out. I waited in line thinking how unusually quick people were being helped. I handed the electronic keys to a nice lady whom handed me a receipt and my dad and I walked the long way through the casino floor until we reached the entrance doors. I saw my daughter with my grandma but my mom was not with them. She was leaning against a light post a few feet away. At first I thought she was talking on the phone as her head was tilted to the side. As I got closer I realized her hands were on her face. She was crying. I felt my heart drop to my feet. I could see that her face was red and her eyes were already swollen. I immediately came to the conclusion that something very bad had happened. In a matter of seconds I saw all of my family members in my head and I was scared to ask what had happened. When I reached my grandma her face was paled and her eyes were full of pain and terror. With fear I asked her “what happened? Something bad happened!” Before she could open her mouth to respond I took a step back as if that was going to stop her from answering me. She said three words that have lived with every day since then. “Juanito hanged himself.” I heard those words and it seemed as if they...
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... he is forever gone, but it is not late for others who need the help. Mental illness is more real than ever and needs to come out of the shadows. We cannot cure what we cannot see. It is time to help and destigmatize mental health.
Works Cited
Hinshaw, Stephen P. The Mark of Shame: Stigma of Mental Illness And An Agenda For
Change. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
Jamison, Kay. “How Should Society Respond to the Mentally Ill?” Mental Health.
Ann Quigley. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2007. N. pg 102-125. Print.
Jamison, Kay R. Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide. 1st ed. New York: Knopf, 1999. Print.
Smietana, Bob. “Tackling Stigma Of Mental Illness.” Christian Century 130.11 (2013): pg 14-15. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
Wroblesky, Adina. Suicide: Why? Minneapolis: Afterword, 1989. Print.
The fight for improved health care for those with mental illness has been an ongoing and important struggle for advocates in the United States who are aware of the difficulties faced by the mentally ill and those who take care of them. People unfortunate enough to be inflicted with the burden of having a severe mental illness experience dramatic changes in their behavior and go through psychotic episodes severe enough to the point where they are a burden to not only themselves but also to people in their society. Mental institutions are equipped to provide specialized treatment and rehabilitative services to severely mentally ill patients, with the help of these institutions the mentally ill are able to get the care needed for them to control their illness and be rehabilitated to the point where they can become a functional part of our society. Deinstitutionalization has led to the closing down and reduction of mental institutions, which means the thousands of patients who relied on these mental institutions have now been thrown out into society on their own without any support system to help them treat their mental illness. Years after the beginning of deinstitutionalization and after observing the numerous effects of deinstitutionalization it has become very obvious as to why our nation needs to be re-institutionalized.
Durkheim, Emile. Trans. John A. Spaulding and George Simpson. Suicide; A Study in Sociology. The Free Press, New York. 1987. Pgs. 297-325
The stigma and negative associations that go with mental illness have been around as long as mental illness itself has been recognized. As society has advanced, little changes have been made to the deep-rooted ideas that go along with psychological disorders. It is clearly seen throughout history that people with mental illness are discriminated against, cast out of society, and deemed “damaged”. They are unable to escape the stigma that goes along with their illness, and are often left to defend themselves in a world that is not accepting of differences in people. Society needs to realize what it is doing, and how it is affecting these people who are affected with mental illness. If we continue to not help them, and to foster their illness, it will only get worse.
Rosenhan’s article On Being Sane in Insane Places brings up many important aspects professionals in the mental health field, and society as a whole, need to consider when treating those who experience mental illness. One of the important key concepts of this article illustrates the difficulty of determining who is “sane” and who is “insane”. This article mentions that those who are diagnosed with a mental illness are not encouraged to fully recover, but rather live in remission and become labeled in a very permanent manner. This type of labeling leads institutions and the professional staff who work for these institutions to consciously and unconsciously distance themselves from the patients (or in some case behave abusively
Disabilities of mental health are common, but not many people are talking about them. As strong stigma is attached to them, and mishandled representation only furthers the stigma. Lori Schiller pushed through the silence to present a narrative that shows the complex ways in which a mental illness can affect someone and those around
Rusch, et al. "Mental Illness Stigma: Concepts, Consequences, And Initiatives To Reduce Stigma." European Psychiatry 20-8 (2005): 529-539. Print.
In a study released by Brown University, their psychology department shed some light on common myths and facts surrounded suicide. These m...
Minois, Georges. History of Suicide: Voluntary Death in Western Culture. Baltimore and London, Johns Hopkins UP, 1999.
Mental health is an issue that has been bombarded with unanswered questions and cursed with a social stigma. Throughout history this has created a social divide between mental health issues and the mainstream media. This disparity doesn’t only create a social separation, but a lapse in ethics, making it tolerable to look down on people in the mental health community. Historically, patients have been placed or forced into mental institutions in order to “cure” them of their mental obscurity so that they can function normally in the society, yet for centuries this has proven to be an ongoing struggle for the mental health community. With all of the new advancements in medicine and our ability to cure more physical and mental ailments than
Throughout her presentation, she explains how public stigmas, once again, cause label avoidance pushing many who need help away from treatment. She then goes on to explain how these stereotyped behaviors cause discrimination towards people with a mental illness from employment to housing which only leads to the creation of more stigmas. Finally, she states how the impact of stigmas is associated with the reduction of self-esteem, overall poor health, and problems with interpersonal relationships (Willits). By using this presentation I am able to connect what we have learned about mental health stigmas to my article. First off, for example, Morris explains how psychiatric units invoke people to imagine a frightening place where insane patients are strapped down and poked and prodded for care (Morris). This stereotypical idea relates to how Willits described general stereotypes associated with mental illness such as crazy and dangerous (Willits). On top of that, Willits explained how these stigmas have negative consequences for patients (Willits). This relates to Morris’s explanation on how the stigma around institutions has caused these units to shut down forcing many people to be homeless or live in jail
This stereotype contributes to the stigma individuals’ face and encourages social exclusion and intolerance, especially in schizophrenia (Ray & Brooks Dollar, 2014). Ken sought out help and went to the emergency room because he recognized he was severely depressed. There, the doctor promised he would not be put in restraints, yet when he was taken to the hospital, he was placed in restraints because it was company policy (Steele & Berman, 2001). Due the stigma that individuals with mental illness are violent, Ken was not treated fairly (Stuart & Arboleda-Florez, 2012). Stuart and Arboleda-Florez (2012) are very credible authors to be writing on the effects of stigma in mental health. Both authors have experience in psychiatry, combatting stigma and mental health issues.
Thoricroft, Graham. "The Mental Illness Taboo Is a Problem for All of Us." - Opinion. Sapphire Stigma Summit, 20 June 2013. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.
There are many ways in which the mentally ill are degraded and shamed. Most commonly, people are stated to be “depressed” rather than someone who “has depression”. It is a common perception that mental illnesses are not a priority when it comes to Government spending just as it is forgotten that most mental health disorders can be treated and lead a normal life if treatment is successful. The effect of this makes a sufferer feels embarrassed and feel dehumanized. A common perception is that they should be feared or looked down upon for something they have not caused. People experience stigma as a barrier that can affect nearly every aspect of life—limiting opportunities for employment, housing and education, causing the loss of family ...
Durkheim, E. (1951). Suicide: A Study in Sociology. (J. A. Spaulding, & G. Simpson, Trans.)
This article puts into perspective how those who are mentally ill lose their quality of life by becoming stigmatized by those surrounding them personally and in a broader sense. Their jobs, housing, health care, and affiliation with others is negatively impacted because of the stigma placed upon them because of their mental illness. This article continues to describe the stigmas that are placed upon the mentally ill by our Western culture. The authors state that mentally ill persons deal with being feared and excluded because of their mental state. They also deal with being viewed as irresponsible because of their mental diagnosis. Finally, they are seen as immature and childlike, thus requiring constant care to be put into place for them. Not only do these authors focus on public stigmas, but they also focus on how these cultural stigmas cause those who are mentally ill to begin to internally stigmatize themselves. This causes self-esteem issues; thus, this causes the individual to feel less worthy and less likely to succeed in his or her future in all areas of