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Implications of stigma to sufferers of mental health
Implications of stigma to sufferers of mental health
Why does mental illness elicit so much stigma essay
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Mental Illness is one of the growing illness in United States. According to National Alliance of Mental Illness”1 in 5 adults experiences a mental health condition every year. 1 in 20 lives with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.” If the person has a five family member, one of them could be diagnosed with mental illness. If there is 40 students in class room at least two of them could be living with serious mental illness. Although mental illness is something that familiar to us, there is still misunderstood and stigma towards mental illness. Then why many people still have a wrong knowledge and attitude toward mental illness? There is many sources of the stigma but one of the main source is people’s ignorance There is many reason why it is difficult to find a job or keep the job for person with mental illness, According to The National Alliance on Mental Illness those are the some reason: “Frequent medical appointments, absences from work, medication side-effects, and difficulty communicating or interacting with others, trouble concentrating, problems following a particular schedule, stigma, prejudice and discrimination” The video call what is So Funny about Mental Illness? Presented by Ruby Wax on TED talks said that “How come every other organ in your body can get sick and you get sympathy, except the brain?” When the person coughing or bleeding everybody would pay attention and help them, but when they cannot see the illness or when it is about feeling people and society can be very insensitive and see it as a weakness or There was an article call “Mental Illness Is Not a Disease“ which argument between Martin Bobgan and Deidre Bobgan who are authors of PsychoHeresy: The Psychological Seduction of Christianity and co-directors of PsychoHeresy Awareness Ministries, an organization which believes that many concepts of psychological counseling are contrary to biblical beliefs. They claimed many opposite views. Such as; “Mental illness is a myth” “Although a brain can be diseased, the mind cannot, they contend, because the mind is not a physical organ.” How could the mental illness become myth? Myth is something that people believes but it is not a true. So more than 40 million people who suffering from mental illness is liar? Moreover, if the mental illness is myth, how are they going to explain about that some mental illness is genetic disorder such as autism, schizophrenia, manic-depressive illness? I would rebut that argument with this article “Mental Illness Is a Disease” Which is article that” First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton” and Steven Hyman who are “director of the National Institute of Mental Health, assert that mental illnesses are real and treatable diseases” talks about that mental illness is real illness. The picture of Schizophrenia
For a very long time, mental health was a disease people would not dare speak about. The stigma associated with mental health meant that it was viewed as a curse or simply poor upbringing. Crazy, right? (Pardon the pun). Although it’s not seen as a curse by us in this generation any more, many people with mental health issues still have to face ignorance, prejudice and discrimination from our society just because of their lack of understanding or reluctance to try and understand. Be that as it may, these attitudes directly impact upon how and if people choose to seek help, making the negative and ignorant opinions and attitudes of others potentially dangerous to many individuals and the people around them.
through the illness not being identified as an illness, is a social stigma and inadequate
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.
Mental illness is more common than one would like to believe. In reality, one in five Americans will suffer from a mental disorder in any given year. Though that ratio is about equivalent to more than fifty-four million people, mental illness still remains a shameful and stigmatized topic (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d.). The taboo of mental illness has an extensive and exhausting history, dating back to the beginning of American colonization. It has not been an easy road, to say the least.
Mental illness have been part of humans for many years. Some mental illness can be hidden, while others can be seen a mile away. Schizophrenia for example, is a mental illness that can be easy to conceal. "Schizophrenia is a chronic, disabling mental illness whose symptoms can include hallucinations, delusions and cognitive problems, the illness afflicts about 1 percent of the human population...." (Shnabel). It means that there are people around the world that hear things and see things that not many people can, not knowing what the difference between real and fake is. "Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders are among the most debilitating mental illnesses because multiple facets of functioning are impaired"(Compton). Seeing and hearing
There are so many types of mental illnesses that affect people every day. When some people think of mental illnesses they think of the ones that would cause people to have physical symptoms as well, but that’s untrue, there are many more that you would never know anyone has if you were to see them on the street. As defined by the 2008 encyclopedia “a mental illness is any disease of the mind or brain that seriously affects a person’s ability or behavior. Symptoms of a mental illness may include extreme moods, such as excessive sadness or anxiety, or a decreased ability to think clearly or remember well.” A mentally ill person has severe symptoms that damage the person’s ability to function in everyday activities and situations. Every nation and every economic level can be affected by a mental illness. In the United States alone about 3% of the population has severe mental illness and to add to that number about 40% of people will experience a type of mental illness at least once in their lives. Some cases of mental illnesses can go away on their own, but some cases are so severe that they require professional treatment. There is so much more available to help people recover from their symptoms than in the past.
This is widely due to mass media creating a stigma for the mentally ill people that most of the general population tend to believe in the United States. I will begin with what I remember of my experience of learning I have mental health illness. I remember suffering heavily through my early teens to my twenties with depression. I had tried at that time just about every type of depression medication available and none of them worked for me. It wasn't until I was in my twenties that my depression just kind of went away.
“Mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior” (Mayo Clinic). Mental disorders can happen many times through one’s life, but mental illness is classified as an ongoing problem with the symptoms that can affect the ability to perform normal day to day tasks (Mayo Clinic). Many people look at those afflicted with mental disorders as being crazy or clinically insane, while the reality is a problem many people live with on a daily basis with help from medications, psychologist visits, family, friends, help groups, and many other support systems. The lack of support available to mentally ill patients, the more that will refuse treatment and refuse to find help for their disorders. Many people who were born with mental disorders grow up knowing they have a problem, but people who develop them later in age don’t understand how to cope with it.
Stereotypes and stigmas promote a dangerous, single-minded perspective. These incomplete or half-truths are often far more duplicitous than lies, as they are more difficult to detect. When these perspectives remain unchecked, they can result in far-reaching, adverse consequences. It is the individual’s duty to refuse to perpetuate this single story perspective. Due to misinformation presented by the media, the stigma surrounding mental illness has created a discriminatory single story perspective; however, through honest and open dialogue, particularly with those suffering from these diseases, these stereotypes can be abolished.
Mental illnesses are common today and the stigmas that follow behind it. Stigmas can be created anybody including families, friends, co-workers, or even someone you don 't know. A stigma that is created usually sets a person apart from everybody else such as sexual orientation, gender or physical disabilities. A person with a mental illness is frequently labeled as a stereotype which can create negative attitudes.
For children 's suffering from mental illnesses, many famous athletes and musicians attend charities to help them with their struggles, by either contributing with their money or by making them smile with their presence. Disorders and illnesses can put an individual at a disadvantage, because they are not as capable to reach their full capacity, as compared to someone who is not suffering from a mental condition. Some individuals are even willing to commit murder, because they are not in the right state of mind. Problems dealing with the human brain can become very dangerous, a person could either take his or her life away or they take someone 's
In the article Issues and Controversies says, "Throughout most of human history, people with mental illness were ostracized, isolated, and persecuted." ( Infobase,1) This belief system can give causation of mental illness in different cultures and such influences in a community will always be in a negative manner. Various societies struggle with the notion of mental health. The standards of every culture believe to be considered normal, natural, or healthy. These views lead to disagreements about the causes, diagnosis, and the treatment of the disorders. Many people with mental problems are discriminated against because of their mental disorder. Mental illness and stigma refers to the view of the person with mental illness as having undesirable traits. Stigma leads to negative behavior, stereotyping, and discriminatory behavior towards the person with mental health issues. This stigma causes the affected person to experience denial or shame of their condition. Perceived stigma can result in the patient being scared to seek help. Stigma can be divided into two perspectives, public and self stigma. Upadhyay says, "Public stigma occurs when the general
Imagine society blamed people for being diagnosed with illnesses such as cancer? Claiming that it was their choices in life that led to such an awful disease. To make them feel guilty of a situation that was in no way deserved by them. This happens all the time to victims of mental illness, but with the added burden of shame. Considering the shocking statistic that one in four will experience some kind of mental health problem in the course of a year in the UK , why is it that we hardly hear of people suffering from mental illness? Why is it a cloud of judgment and misunderstanding still surrounds the subject? People with a mental disorder or with a history of mental health issues are continually ostracized by society. This results in it being more difficult than it already is for the mentally ill to admit their symptoms to others and to seek treatment. To towards understanding mental illness is to finally lift the stigma, and to finally let sufferers feel safe and accepted within today’s society.
The stigma is created by the lack of knowledge, narrow-minded attitudes, and the acts of judgment against people who have a mental illness. The stigma results in extensive consequences for the individuals being affected. The stigma ends up becoming worse than the mental illness itself because it prevents individuals from seeking help during the early stages of the mental illness. There is even a vast availability of mental-health treatments that are effective, yet the majority of people experiencing problems related to mental-health does not seek help. 28% of the adult population of the United States have a diagnosable mental condition and only 8% seek treatment. These statistics help prove that stigma is one of the main reasons for individuals not willing to seek help. The individual fears being stigmatized. They fear being rejected by their loved ones and the general public. They do not want to be devalued. The way that individuals with mental illnesses are called “the mentally ill” in the media just makes the stigma even worse. This makes the person feel defined solely by their disability, which is inhumane. The person begins to feel less of a human being. In the media, they are viewed as being dangerous and violent, which results with inhumanity towards the individual. This just increases the negative stereotypes towards individuals with a mental
Mass media “references to people with mental health problems found more than four in ten articles in the press used derogatory terms about mental health and nearly half of press coverage related mental illness to violence and crime” (Esseler, 244). This is causing for people to look down upon the mention of mental illnesses and many times ignore the importance of confronting this issue. Therefore the importance of removing this stigmatization is crucial. Education allows to make more informed decisions and then changing the perception of mental illness can lead towards policy changes toward the improvement of mental health (Sakellari,