Mental Health Stigma

              It’s not a secret that we’re in the midst of a mental health crisis. Depression and anxiety seem somewhat ubiquitous these days with approximately one in five adults in the United States being diagnosed. That said, mental health issues go well beyond anxiety and depression and while we’ve come a long way in destigmatizing mental health issues like anxiety and depression, we’re fooling ourselves if we believe that, as a greater society, we have fully destigmatized mental illness. This post is kicking off a series of posts exploring some of the various mental health diagnoses that are still largely misunderstood by the general population and are ripe for stigmatization. Today, we’re focusing on why some disorders are stigmatized and the long reaching impact of that.

Let’s dig right in. At its core, stigmas arise out of fear, lack of awareness or a lack in understanding. Mental health stigmas specifically arise from stereotypes that are often inaccurate, negative, and offensive. The most common stigma attached to mental illness is that the person with the diagnosis is inherently dangerous (which is actually completely untrue. In fact, many people with mental health diagnoses are 10 times more likely than the general population to be victims of crime.) An additional stereotype surrounding mental health issues is that the person dealing with the mental health issue is somehow “lazy” or is otherwise “choosing” to have the feelings or engage in the behavior associated with the diagnosis. Larger society buys into these false-beliefs again out of fear or lack of education. It allows people to believe that they are “normal” while those that are dealing with mental illness are somehow “other” or “less than”. This othering that stigmatization creates is remarkably damaging for the whole of society.

Damaging for the whole of society? Yes. Consider the fact that over the course of a lifetime 50% of US adults will need mental health treatment. When society has determined that needing mental health treatment makes you other or less than, the impact can be at best damaging and at worst deadly. Common effects of metal health stigma include:

·        Not seeking or diminished likelihood of staying with treatment

·        Isolation

·        Feeling misunderstood by social supports

·        Reduced hope

·        Increases in symptoms

·        Lower self-esteem

·        Bullying, violence, and harassment

·        Fewer opportunities for work, school, social activities or finding housing

This is all before we even touch on the increase in prejudice and discrimination that arises as a direct result of stigmatization.

Given that mental health stigma is a larger societal issue, it is up to all of us as members of this society to do what we can to address and dismantle mental health stigma. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the following behaviors can work at an individual level to start the dismantling:

• Talking openly about mental health issues

• Educate yourself and others – respond to misperceptions or negative comments by sharing facts and experiences.

• Be conscious of your language – our words create our worlds

• Encourage equality between physical and mental health- both are healthcare

• Show compassion for those with mental illness. COMPASSION and EMPATHY- not sympathy. No one needs to be felt badly for.

• Be honest about treatment – normalize mental health treatment, just like other health care treatment.

• Let the media know when they are using stigmatizing language presenting stories of mental illness in a stigmatizing way.

Individual steps are a start. We area also all part of larger systems and when the system can behave differently, we all feel the change. Here are additional steps that companies and organizations can take to help dismantle mental health stigma:

·        Mention your commitment to leading a behaviorally healthy workplace every time you mention the company's commitment to its overall culture of health, attracting and retaining the best talent, and valuing its employees, etc. AND ACTUALLY FOLLOW THROUGH. You cannot talk about a behaviorally healthy workplace and have expectations of your employees that run specifically counter to wellness.

·        Train leaders to identify emotional distress, make referrals and to responding promptly and constructively to behavioral performance issues.

·        Be welcoming of the need for accommodations- not an added hindrance to people’s ability to perform their jobs. L

·        Ensure that appropriate mental health coverage is included in your company benefits- This includes both ensuring that you’re subsidizing plans that include mental health coverage and offering more direct options like EAP programs.

In the coming weeks we’re going to be getting into overviews of specific diagnoses that tend to be more stigmatized than others. As a therapist in the community, I’m doing my best to help close the education and awareness gap for these most misunderstood diagnoses and provide information to help end the stigma.