Mental Health Stigma

Written by: Faith & Tammy        Editted by: Alex   

Mental Health Stigmatisation is one of the most prevalent and significant issues mental health service users and providers face (Pang et al., 2017). Such stigma, prejudices and staunch misconceptions about mental illnesses and mental health has consequently derailed many patients from the proper therapy and treatments (American Psychiatric Organisation, 2020).

 Stigmatisation Against Mental Illnesses:

    Most of us harbour rather layman definitions of the term stigma. We often associate the words “discrimination”, “stereotypes” and “misconceptions” with it. However, according to researchers there are 3 different types of stigma: Public Stigma, Self-Stigma and Institutional Stigma (American Psychiatric Organisation, 2020).

Public Stigma
Public Stigma refers to the negative or discriminatory attitudes towards mental illness endorsed by the public (Pang et al., 2017). Common stereotypes and prejudices includes the common misconception that people with mental illnesses are inherently dangerous, incompetent, unpredictable and have ‘brought this upon themselves.’ These fallacies eventually result in discrimination in job placements, housing and healthcare (American Psychiatric Organisation, 2020).

Self-Stigma  
Self Stigma refers to one’s own innate negative attitudes one has towards their own mental health condition, which may include internalized shame (American Psychiatric Organisation, 2020). Living in a society that endorses and perpetuates stigmatizing ideas has inadvertently caused those diagnosed with mental health disorders to internalise such prejudiced views, consequently believing that they are less valued because of their psychological disorder (Corrigan & Watson, 2002). These self deprecatory thoughts would result in lowered self-esteem and self-efficacy (American Psychiatric Organisation, 2020).

Institutional Stigma
Institutional Stigma involves policies of government and private organizations that intentionally or unintentionally limit opportunities for those diagnosed (American Psychiatric Organisation, 2020). In contrast to the previous two stigmas, Institutional Stigma is more systemic. Stereotypes endorsed by society have thus been embedded in laws and other formal institutions. This may thus result in intended or unintended loss of opportunity (American Psychiatric Organisation, 2020).

Why does Stigmatisation occur?

    There are a multitude of reasons as to why such stigmatisation exists, but the main reason can be attributed to ignorance of the general public. The lack of educational materials on mental health has also contributed to this phenomenon. Furthermore, with the media’s inaccurate portrayal of stereotypes about mental illnesses, its oversensationalisation of mental illnesses as well as its use of demeaning language in describing patients diagnosed with mental disorders (Healthdirect, n.d.).

Mental Illness Stigma amongst Youth: 

    The issue of mental health/illness stigma amongst youths is a rather prevalent one with large proportions of Singaporean youths appearing to have adopted a rather prejudiced and inflexible mindset regarding mental health. Negatively connoted words such as “crazy”, “different” and “weird” are still commonly associated with mental illnesses by youths. Unfortunately, the majority of youths said they would be embarrassed if they were diagnosed with a mental illness. In fact, some of them seem to have been rather apathetic towards those diagnosed with mental illnesses. According to a study done by Pang et al., a quarter of youths from their sample indicated that they would not want others to know if they had a mentally ill relative. While a third of them stated that their friends would view them as ‘weak’ if they were to be diagnosed. It is therefore imperative that society remains cognizant to the fact that mental illness is still currently being seen as a mark of shame amongst youths, so that we may ease such fervent stigmatisation.

Harmful Effects of Stigma: 
    While stigma and discrimination may seem innocuous, the harmful effects of stigma and discrimination are extensive. According to the American Psychiatric Association, they include: 

• Reluctance to seek help or treatment and less likely to stay with treatment
  
• Social isolation 
  
• Lack of understanding by family, friends, coworkers or others 
  
• Fewer opportunities for work, school or social activities or trouble finding housing 
  
• Bullying, physical violence or harassment
  
• Health insurance that doesn’t adequately cover your mental illness treatment 
  
• The belief that you’ll never succeed at certain challenges or that you can’t improve your situation
  

How can we combat it?
    There are various ways in which we can all help to combat mental health/illness stigma (American Psychiatric Organisation, 2020):

1. Talk openly about mental health: More often than not, we have been conditioned to censor ourselves when it comes to topics such as mental health. It is time for us to create an accepting and judgement free environment where mental health is no longer seen as an abnormality. We can start by sharing more on social media as well as engaging in active and respectful conversations. 
   
2. Educate yourself and others: The root of stigmatisation usually stems from a lack of knowledge on the given subject. Hence, in order to bridge this gap, one can try to attend and be more receptive to mental health literacy campaigns. We can also respond to misperceptions or negative comments by sharing facts and experiences, correcting any misconceptions others might have. 
   
3. Be conscious of language: It is important we do not undermine the power of words. Other than being conscious of our own language and use of words, we should also remind others that words matter. 
   
4. Encourage equality: While others often place mental and physical illnesses on opposing ends of a spectrum, we should however strive to draw parallels between the two. In our bid to normalise mental illness/health, it is crucial that we draw comparisons between the two. Such as likening mental health treatment to that of treatments for physical ailments such as cancer or diabetes. 
   
5. Show compassion: As onlookers, friends and family, we should always show compassion and empathy for those with mental illness. This would not only encourage treatment and bridge any treatment gaps, it would also normalise the idea of therapy for these patients as well as society. 
   
6. Be honest about treatment: Society should strive to normalize mental health treatment. We should also avoid alienating and discriminating against those seeking or have seeked mental health treatments. 
   
7. Let the media know: The media often wields more power and influence over our minds than we are aware of. Hence, we should always remain conscious and aware of any stigmatising language used by the media, or the stigmatizing presentation of mental illnesses. From there, we could then perhaps suggest and remind the media of the detrimental impacts such stigmatizing language and presentations could cause.
   
8. Choose empowerment: It is easy for us to be shamed by society into thinking that we should conceal or suppress our mental struggles. Therefore it is paramount we choose empowerment over shame, by refusing to allow others to dictate how we feel or view ourselves.
   
   

Mental Health/Illness Stigma is as such an extremely real and pressing problem in society today. It is hence vital that we eradicate such stigmatisation so as to provide a safe and accepting environment for those suffering from mental health issues.


References
American Psychiatric Organisation. (2020, August). Stigma, Prejudice and Discrimination Against People with Mental Illness. American Psychiatric Organisation. https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/stigma-and-discrimination
Corrigan, P. W., & Watson, A. C. (2002, February). Understanding the impact of stigma on people with mental illness. World psychiatry official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 1(1), 16-20. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1489832/
Healthdirect. (n.d.). Mental health stigma. healthdirect. https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/mental-health-stigma#reducing-stigma
Pang, S., Liu, J., Mahesh, M., Chua, B. Y., Shahwan, S., Lee, S. P., Vaingankar, J. A., Abdin, E., Shuen, D., Chong, S. A., & Subramaniam, M. (2017). Stigma among Singaporean youth: a cross-sectional study on adolescent attitudes towards serious mental illness and social tolerance in a multiethnic population. BMJ Open, 7(10), 1-11. https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/7/10/e016432