mental health

These social stigmas increase the fear and shame in people who may be dealing with mental illness and soon develop into self stigmas such as: “I’m crazy” and “I can’t be helped.” Behaviors such as these reinforce the negative stereotypes that bombard society. Gaining an understanding of why there is a stigma, how inaccurate stereotypes are debilitating to the function of those with mental illnesses, and how recognizing social and self-stigma surrounding mental illness will be the first steps to eradicate this problem. People with mental disorders or illnesses are far more likely to be victims than perpetrators of crimes. However in newspapers and during media coverage violent criminals are often labeled psychos, maniacs, or schizophrenics. Media, television, and music often dramatize and portray people with mental illnesses inaccurately (Polatis.)

Abstract Depression strikes a large number of people around the world. It can be brought on by many things, such as childhood trauma, social issues, and drug use. The one thing that sets depression apart from many other mental afflictions is that everyone who has it may have it for different reasons and are taking different steps to remedy it. Some seek psychoanalysis while some rely on a pill to make them feel better. Others turn to self-medication, in the case of depression known as self-loathing, self-mutilation, and suicide.

Mental Health Crisis Stigmatization of mental health and suicide is a major problem which affects patients and their caregivers around the world. The stigma leads to negative behavior and stereotyping towards the person with mental illness. This causes the person affected by this to fell rejection and to feel shame about their condition. All the stigma leads to underreporting, and data collection methods that is critical to suicide prevention that needs to be improved. So with this the number for mental health and suicide is much higher then what is reported.

However, when members of today’s society find out that they suffer from a mental illness such as depression, anxiety, or schizophrenia, they are automatically labeled as mentally unstable and untrustworthy in regards to safety, money, and loved ones (Sanz). This stigma on the mentally ill causes a lack of proper health care from the medical profession, discrimination, difficulty with employment, and criminalization. Depression, for example, is a prevalent mental illness that affects American adults. Accord... ... middle of paper ... ...oximately twenty percent are veterans. Discrimination, employment issues, criminalization, and the lack of proper health care are just a few of the main issues that result from the mental health stigma.

Depression, however, is considered a medical disorder and can affect thoughts, feelings, physical health, and behaviors. It interferes with daily life such as school, friends, and family. Clinical depression is the most incapacitating of all chronic c... ... middle of paper ... ...owing problem amongst today's teenagers. Depression brings with it many problems that can be self-destructive. If a teenager has the benefit of early intervention and help in coping with his or her depression, however, the life script can be quite different.

There is a worldwide presumption of the negative implications that are associated with schizophrenia for both the sufferers and the general community they are in. The myth that is particularly prominent in modern day society, despite an increase in education over the years, is that people diagnosed with schizophrenia are dangerous and unpredictable. This stigma has been proved through many studies conducted in different countries and cultures and the perception of schizophrenic patients is at a disadvantage to the way media portrays it in fiction and real-life events. In addition to this, presumption of the dangers of schizophrenia can create a powerful culture of fear that makes a powerful platform for the stigma to be built on. These assumptions about schizophrenia can and will adversely affect those suffering from the disorder and their families indefinitely unless there is a more rigorous education afforded to the public.

Stigma is a barrier for treatment and is harmful to society, as well as being a sign of a toxic community. The biggest obstacle in the goal to eradicate mental health stigma is that many people aren’t aware of what a mental disorders are, and how commonly they occur. Many people associate people with mental illness (also called psychological disorders) as “crazy” or “insane”. However, these disorders can be as simple as attention and hyperactivity problems (ADHD), stress disorders, and depression. There are of course more serious issues like bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, but even those can be handled with proper methods of medication and therapeutic assistance.

Throughout the Great Depression the mentally disabled were treated harshly and were almost constantly being harassed by society. The mentally ill were treated in this cruel manner because they were seen as the cause of some of society’s problems of that day in age. Also, society viewed them as less capable of human being. A physician of that time by the name of Alexis Carrel stated, “The mentally ill should be humanely and economically disposed of in small euthanistic institutions supplied with the proper gases” (Freeman; “Treatment of the…”). Not only did Alexis Carrel feel this way, but so did many other people of the United States way Teel 2 due to the belief that mentally unstable people were incapable and insignificant human beings.

Many times this leads to worsening health issues and serious withdrawal from friends and family, leaving the person all alone, outcast from civilization. There are many different opinions on what the root cause surrounding the stigmatization of mental health actually is; this paper takes the view that the greatest contributor to negative mental health branding is mainstream media and education. Although mental health is a large, even global scale issue I am going to be focusing on three different articles in particular. The first, written by Crisp et al (2000) titled “Stigmatization of people with mental illness” identifies their three greatest ill perceived mental illnesses as schizophrenia, alcoholism, and drug addiction. They stated that people who experience one of these ‘big three’ are generally perceived as dangerous and unpredictable making them stand out more in society.

Public stigma, encompassing multiple stigmatizing attitudes towards those with mental illness, is often presented in three forms throughout the media, “people with mental illness are homicidal maniacs who need to be feared; they have childlike perceptions of the world that should be marveled; or they are responsible for their illness because they have weak character” (Corrigan and Watson 17). Noticeably, none of these attitudes are beneficial for persons with serious mental illness. These attitudes alter the way people with mental illness are treated by the public—which will be explored further on—and they also alter the way people with mental illness see