It’s no secret that there is a stigma surrounding mental illness.
Nearly one in five U.S. adults will experience a mental health disorder in a given year. However, only 25% of people with mental illness feel that others understand or sympathize with their illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Often, we call this dissonance shame, but we are wrong to do so. Negative stereotypes that shame people with mental illness and prevent them from seeking help constitute not only stigma but also discrimination. This is a blatant, biased view of certain groups of people.
Society’s perceptions of mental illness don’t just lead to negative stereotypes, as the word “stigma” suggests.It leads to behaviors and policies that actually make life more difficult for those with mental health problems.
Indeed, people with mental illness are taught to feel shame – to believe that they have a shameful character flaw, that “it’s all in their head,” or just “get over it.” But the way we collectively treat people with mental illness goes beyond that.
People with mental illness are more likely to encounter law enforcement during a psychological crisis than to receive medical help. There are currently more people with mental illness in jails and jails than in hospitals. They are blamed for violent behavior when they are more likely to be victims. They have higher rates of homelessness. They are seen as a danger to society, others and themselves.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights defines discrimination as “a situation that occurs when one person is treated less favorably than another person in similar circumstances for reasons related to a prohibited ground”. In other words, when a person is mistreated or treated differently from others based on their circumstances.
Speaking of mental illness, does it sound familiar?
Fear has driven mental health discrimination for hundreds of years
The idea that mental illness is a defect dates back centuries. In the 1700s, people with mental illness were often jailed or quarantined for their actions, often because people didn’t know what else to do.
In the 1800s, activist Dorthea Dix began opening hospitals for people suffering from mental illness, thereby changing the way people viewed mental illness. However, it was at this time that controversial brain surgeries began, performed to “calm” patients showing signs of severe mental illness. This eventually developed into what we now know as lobotomy, a surgical procedure on the frontal lobe of the brain.
Although current attitudes and care methods have come a long way from those early days, there is still a long way to go.
Look at the politicians’ narratives. They use terms related to mental illness to slander and insult. They blame mental health disorders for the national tragedy. There is even resistance and debate when it comes to mental health reform. But it’s not just happening on Capitol Hill. Many aspects of life include negative attitudes toward mental illness:
Police: Many law enforcement officers don’t know how to deal with mental health issues during encounters. Take the 2016 case of Charles Kinsey, a mental health caregiver in Florida who was shot and killed by police while helping an autistic patient. Many believe the incident is a clear sign that law enforcement officials do not have a clear understanding of how to mitigate mental health crises or those who work with people suffering from mental disorders.
Workplace: People with mental illness are afraid to disclose their condition at work for fear of professional penalties.This fear manifests itself in the office and affects companies’ bottom lines: approximately $193 billion in revenue is lost each year due to serious mental health issues.
Medicine: Even doctors don’t take mental health as seriously as they should.A study published in the journal Health Affairs found that primary care physicians often neglect to follow up with patients after diagnosing depression and are less likely to help patients manage the condition.But they are more likely to adopt care strategies for patients with chronic physical conditions such as diabetes.
Change starts with precise language
Tackling the negative outlook on mental health starts with encouraging more people to talk openly about it. Otherwise, as research shows, people will not seek the medical support they need – support that can lead to recovery. Untreated mental health issues can lead to decreased productivity, poor sleep habits, and withdrawal from social situations.In the worst cases, they can become a major factor in suicide, the tenth leading cause of death in the United States.
Ultimately, it’s not just about changing hearts or minds, but getting to the root of the problem by addressing systemic issues. This means more mental health training for first responders, more policies to help people with mental illness get the care they need from medical professionals, and more workplace acceptance and initiatives to support individuals dealing with psychological issues.
Of course, not everyone is a legislator or a company CEO, and not everyone can implement more programs for first responders. But ordinary citizens can make their voices heard.One way to start small is to call out the judgmental perspectives surrounding mental illness and label them exactly: intolerance of a group of people. By framing the idea in a more pointed way, Enomoto said, people might take it more seriously.
Because not only do you have to deal with shame, but you also have to deal with discrimination.period.