){kind=logo}
){kind=icon}
){kind=logo}
){kind=icon}
Nine out of ten people with mental health problems are affected by the stigma surrounding their diagnosis.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 50% of adults in the United States will need treatment for mental health issues at some point in their life. Additionally, 1 in 25 people lives with a serious mental illness, such as an eating disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or depression. Still, there is a high level of stigma around the issue, harming those affected.
A study published in 2020 analyzed past research on stigma and mental health, indicating that mental health disorders are prevalent worldwide. According to the study entitled Interventions to Reduce Stigma Related to Mental Illnesses in Educational Institutes: a Systematic Review, mental disorders account for 7% of illnesses globally and cause 16% of injuries in people aged 10-19 years, making suicide the third cause of death in adolescents, who are an extremely vulnerable social population, since they seek the approval of their peers and social networks.
The stigma of mental health
The Cambridge dictionary defines stigma as “a strong feeling of disapproval that most people in a society have about something, especially when this social judgment is unfair.” People can apply stigmas to many things, such as people who have a specific culture, a particular lifestyle, or who live with health problems, such as mental illness. Unfortunately, the stigma around mental health has become a barrier for people to seek help, more specifically to want to treat themselves and live a better life. This feeling can come from family, friends, co-workers, or society in general.
The problem comes from the fact that these beliefs are often simplified or generalized representations about groups of people that are inaccurate and offensive. Being negative, they cause a person to have a wrong idea of what it is like to live with a mental illness. An example of this is dissociative identity disorder (DID), formerly known as multiple personality disorder or multiple personality disorder. DID develops in people who suffer trauma during childhood. Wikipedia defines it as “the existence of two or more identities in a person, each with its own pattern of perceiving and acting with the environment.” For example, the movie “Split,” released in 2016, tells the story of a man who suffers from this disease. The film shows him as a danger to society. However, the reality is that people with DID have the same chance of being violent without any situation that affects their mental well-being. In addition, many times, the differences between the different “personalities,” which are actually known as alters, are not very noticeable. Another example is the movie “American Psycho,” which worsens the stigma of people suffering from this disorder.
On the other hand, stigmas can be seen in the way diseases are talked about. For example, describing sadness or stress as depression or anxiety. This becomes a problem when people begin to associate these disorders with emotions or feelings, thinking that it is something easy to overcome, invalidating the experiences of others. According to the Canada Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), the stigma surrounding these diseases prevents 40% of people from seeking treatment.
Because Hollywood portrays people with mental illness, many fear being diagnosed or seeking support from other people because they don’t want to be labeled “crazy” or dangerous. In reality, these people are ten times more likely to be the victim than the attacker, a vulnerable population. Beyond the media, the stigma about mental health comes from different sources such as beliefs and the diseases themselves that make someone act outside the norm. According to the Mental Health Foundation of England, nine out of ten people with some form of mental health problem feel that stigma and discrimination harm their lives. As a result, people with such a diagnosis go through serious difficulties finding work, having long-term relationships, and being included in society.
Sometimes this stigma is not noticeable; other times, it is just the way people describe a condition or person living with a mental illness. This can produce effects such as: internalizing negative beliefs, isolation, low self-esteem, despair, avoiding seeking treatment, worsening symptoms, discrimination, and injustices. To stop the stigma, education should support increasing knowledge about mental illnesses since many feelings against people with mental health problems are formed by lack of knowledge and overexposure to negative examples.
Reducing stigma at school
The National Alliance on Mental Illness has reported that up to 27% of students have depression. That is why schools play a critical role in supporting their students and creating a safe environment. To start helping students, educators can guide their students to break their stereotypes about mental health by fostering thoughtful conversations about it. Plus, this helps create a safe place to share your experiences. Talking about the subject also helps to normalize, breaking prejudices such as thinking that people with mental problems are crazy. During these moments of discussion, it is also important to include mindfulness and pay full attention. This helps to understand better what other people are saying and know how to act on the experiences of others, creating a safe classroom for everyone.
Inviting experts is also a great tool to eliminate stigmas as they are trained people for diagnosis and treatment. They have dealt with all kinds of people with mental illness and can help provide a clearer idea of what those diagnoses look like. In addition, they help reinforce that mental health problems are like any other health issue that needs doctors and treatment to cope with them. In addition to experts, it is important to involve parents in this process. Many times, young people believe that adults do not understand them or do not know what depression, anxiety, or other mental illnesses are. Therefore, inviting them and educating them along with their children can help everyone.
No matter how many classes are done, they will never get over a session with a psychologist; no event or school club can replace him for that. Therefore, educators should urge students and parents to seek experts. Mental health goes beyond feelings of anguish or sadness; it is a public health problem resulting from society’s bad reputation. Breaking
stigmas is teamwork; it takes everyone’s effort to improve the quality of life of those with a mental illness. Therefore, it’s not just about finding better sources and educating yourself, but demanding that the media stop spreading harmful stereotypes of disorders.
Translation by Daniel Wetta.
){kind=icon}
){kind=icon}
This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 
)