Stigma and mental illness go hand-in-hand, unfortunately, just as much as cheese and crackers go hand-in-hand.
If you’ve ever experienced a mental illness, you’ve likely experienced funny looks, or shocked reactions when you explain your condition to others. Why is it people are so scared to let themselves be exposed to those with mental illness? I was always very open about the anxiety I used to experience, and I also tried to open up with others about depression, every time I’ve been through it. Fortunately, we live in the 21st century, which means more and more mental health campaigns are being pushed into society. So whilst there is still ‘stigma’ associated with mental illness, information has never been as accessible to those who want to learn about it.
So what is stigma anyway?
The dictionary describes stigma as;
“a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.”
Doesn’t that just sound just plain wrong when we’re talking about people who are genuinely suffering inside their own minds? I certainly think so! However, as I said above, this generally comes from people being scared of the unknown. I mean think about it, isn’t that where most fear comes from? The stigma associated with mental health is only fueled by what we see on TV and in the news.
When we hear that a gunman who had mental health problems shot and killed a group of innocent people, suddenly the rest of us who battle mental health as seen as ‘not quite right too’. That’s not to say that everyone thinks people with mental illness are dangerous, but situations like this do not help lower stigma. The issue with the stigma associated with mental health is, people, think you must be a little ‘unhinged’ if you are suffering from any degree of mental illness.
The truth is, 1 in 4 of us will experience a mental illness at some point in our lives, so it’s not just exclusive to those who go off the rails and commit horrible acts. There are various degrees of anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder. From the person who is simply struggling to get through their day, to the person who has been hospitalized for their own, and others safety.
Here are some of the most common stigmas associated with mental health, that I think need to stop;
1. You Must Be Crazy
Probably the most common stigma and belief about those with mental illness are ‘they’re crazy’. When someone with depression explodes into tears over what someone else would deem ‘not a big deal’, it easy for them to say ‘they’re crazy!’ The problem with others calling the mentally ill crazy is, ‘crazy’ is a very broad term. It’s also not directly related to any one mental illness. This then makes it highly offensive to those experiencing mental illness.
What we hear and see on TV and in history books does not help the matter either. In popular culture, those with a mental illness are seen as folks who find themselves locked up in asylums, wearing nothing but straight jackets in padded cells. The word ‘crazy’ is so loose and broad, that it needs to stop being used to describe a wide variety of people suffering from mental illness.
2. You Must Be Dangerous
As I mentioned above, mental illness is usually only presented in the news when it’s used to describe someone who has committed a terrible crime, before there has been any evidence to suggest the offender even had a mental illness. A common stigma associated with mental illness is that you must be dangerous to have a mental illness. For some reason, it’s widely seen that if you have a mental illness, you somehow are more dangerous. You are seen as not being able to control your thoughts and actions, and that you could suddenly lash out or hurt yourself.
For example, if you are experiencing schizophrenia, or you have bipolar disorder, the wider society has an image that you are likely unstable, and possibly hostile.
3. Mental Illness Is Self-Inflicted
One of the most shocking and naive stigmas associated with mental illness is that it’s self-inflicted. For example, those who have eating disorders can find that they get a particularly rough time. To the uneducated, it is thought that if you are dangerously starving yourself, then surely you just need to eat more. Some believe that mental illness is only skin deep and that if those who suffer with it want to change, they just need to stop what they’re doing and act properly.
Those who abuse alcohol also suffer from mental illness stigma. Surely if you drink that much alcohol then you must just like getting drunk? Again, we need to educate the wider population that those who abuse substances do so due to internal pain, not because they simply ‘enjoy’ the substance they use.
4. People With Mental Illness Are Different
Society simply feels as if those with mental illness are ‘different’ from ‘normal’ people. With all the research and medications being developed, this only inflames the notion that these sufferers are ‘different’ and need to be ‘fixed’. Whilst many feel as if mental illness sufferers are both dangerous and unpredictable, they also feel as if they need to be kept separate from the wider population.
As we see in society through school and workplaces, those who are seen as ‘different from the rest’ tend to have a harder time than those who are seen as part of the ‘herd’. With a large part of the population who still feel uneasy about those with mental illness, only more exposure can crush the stigma associated with mental health.
Why Does Stigma Matter?
Removing stigma associated with mental illness is important for a wide array of reasons. Stigma brings with it discrimination. Those with mental illness experience low self-esteem, further depression, and poor quality of life when they are continuously discriminated against. The only way to disrupt the stigma is to change the negative beliefs about those with mental illness. Of course, the way in which the media portrays those with mental health needs to change, and the general public need to immerse themselves amongst those with mental illness to realise that actually, the mentally ill are not all ‘dangerous’ or ‘different’, and really they just need the love and care that everyone else on the face of this planet does.