Break the Stigma

Mental Health Foundation #Breakthestigma banner - People In Agreement

Break the Stigma

Mental Health Foundation #Breakthestigma banner - People In Agreement

Break the Stigma

Mental Health Foundation #Breakthestigma banner - People In Agreement

# breakthestigma is about ending the public attitude that having a mental illness makes a person less valuable to society, and about ending the correlated dismissive and dehumanizing treatment. Stereotyping anyone in a negative way has never benefited society, only damaged it, and we at the Mental Health Foundation believe this stigma must end if we are to see society help those suffering with a mental illness become all they can be.

Why the Stigma?

The media is one of the main instigators of the negative bias toward people who suffer from mental illness, portraying them as dangerous, stupid, or evil and only deserving of jail or social shunning. The only way around this is by serving the public, and the medical community, with as much helpful educational content as possible to provide awareness and understanding of the truth — that every human has value and deserves the same quality of respect, quality healthcare, and social support as those around them.

How the Stigma Damages Recovery

The public might treat someone with a mental illness in the following negative ways:

  • Devalue their existence
  • Violate their human rights
  • Discriminate against them in the workplace or other social setting
  • Say they are undeserving of help – that they brought it on themselves
  • Judge them to be a drug addict, sex worker, or criminal purely by their illness
  • Minimize their quality of healthcare, downplay or ignore their symptoms if sick
  • Not prioritize their need of safe housing, job opportunities, or education
  • Bully or abuse them verbally and physically, talk down to them, demean them
  • Exclude them from making decisions about their own care
  • Not cover them with adequate health insurance

THE SOONER THIS TERRIBLE BIAS AND TREATMENT ENDS, THE SOONER THE PUBLIC CAN COME TOGETHER TO STRENGTHEN AND SUPPORT OUR MENTALLY ILL 100% IN A JUDGMENT-FREE WAY.

End the Self Stigmatization

The people suffering from a mental illness can also apply this stigma to themselves, judging themselves to:

  • Have less value – untrue
  • Deserve the demeaning treatment – untrue
  • Never measure up – untrue
  • Not deserve professional healthcare when sick – untrue
  • Not deserve to live – untrue
  • Be unable to ever succeed in life or improve circumstances – untrue

All of these judgments can be lessened or eliminated through the following measures:

  • Treatment – usually a combination of therapy and medication, can help lessen immediate symptoms and provide a positive timeline for recovery or a management plan that makes you feel like you are back in control.
  • Counseling and talk therapy – has been proven over and over again to provide understanding and practical help with managing symptoms.
  • Self talk – Talk therapy can help greatly with challenging the thoughts about your illness, removing the self stigmatization, and inserting encouragement and positivity. You are not your illness; you are a highly-valued person with an illness.
  • Social support – Talk with those you trust about what’s going on and ask for their support. Join a local support groups, ask teachers for help, join an online forum, find a vocational rehab group.
  • Openness – Encourage others by sharing your story in safe environments.

Together we can #breakthestigma