I wanted
to talk about it. Damn it. I wanted to scream. I wanted to yell. I wanted to
shout about it. But all I could was whisper “I’m fine.”
Stigma is calling someone with mental illness "crazy"
because they have a mental illness.
The stigma of mental illness scares us into thinking there is something terribly wrong. It feels so embarrassing to tell someone that maybe "I don't feel okay." As humans, psychologically speaking, we like to go with the crowd because being an outsider usually leads to neglect and being alone is frightening. No one wants to feel like they are burdening or stressing out their loved ones. That fear you have of speaking out is the influence of the stigma that has imprinted in our nation.
The stigma of mental illness scares us into thinking there is something terribly wrong. It feels so embarrassing to tell someone that maybe "I don't feel okay." As humans, psychologically speaking, we like to go with the crowd because being an outsider usually leads to neglect and being alone is frightening. No one wants to feel like they are burdening or stressing out their loved ones. That fear you have of speaking out is the influence of the stigma that has imprinted in our nation.
Stigma is the fear of telling someone you are going to the
psychiatrist because you do not want them to see you as unstable or dangerous,
even though individuals with mental illness are more likely to be victims of assault than the perpetrators of it. Yet stigma relies on ignorance, so it persists even
though facts indicate the opposite to be true.
This matters because there are citizens much less likely to
receive mental health treatment because of stigma, a problem that is most
prevalent among multicultural groups. Not only this, but there is also a huge problem with homelessness, drug addiction, and suicide among those with mental illnesses.
If there was a purely physical illness that caused homelessness at the rate that mental illness does, there would be so much outrage. But, to most, mental illness is considered to be the fault of the sufferer. This is a view of which, by the way, is unsubstantiated by science.
If there was a purely physical illness that caused homelessness at the rate that mental illness does, there would be so much outrage. But, to most, mental illness is considered to be the fault of the sufferer. This is a view of which, by the way, is unsubstantiated by science.
That is stigma. It is very much alive.
Now, to combat it, there is but one option, and that is to freely
discuss it as though there was no shame attached to it. The only way to truly combat
stigma is to realize that there are limitations to its power. Because stigma
relies on misinformation, once we talk about it and dispel the myths about
mental illness, only then are we free from it.
Do not doubt the presence of stigma. It has always been there,
whether it is explicit or not.
We should not be afraid to talk about mental illness. It is
necessary for us-as a collective and as a society--to move past the pervasive
and engrained beliefs about mental illness so that we can help those who suffer
from it. It is not easy. But it is certainly worth it.
