Stigma Surrounding Mental Illness

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Facing the stigma set upon those with deemed mental illness will open the doors of opportunity for thousands of people if we are able to come together. Placing the fear amongst those diagnosed as mentally ill sets these individuals up for fear of rejection and discrimination which often lead to longer roads of recovery. It is commonly advised to get the help one needs as soon as possible in order to prolong the chances of becoming socially as well as medically neglected. Spreading the awareness for people at a early stage of mental illness can defeat the chances of stigma faced amongst these people as well as creating a stronger chance of defeating the illness in its early stages. On a larger scale, we as people must unite in order to create a larger awareness for those left in the dark facing mental illness. By doing so, we must change the narrative towards those dealing with mental illness from those who are "weak" to those who are "brave & different". From a micro understanding, we must change how some of us operate within our family dynamics and close friendships in order to create a more positive perspective towards those who are mentally ill.   









  





In many cases, patients who find theirselves diagnosed under such medical term,"mentally ill", often find the most struggle in trying to achieve societal acceptance through forms of discrimination social injustice. Regardless of the body we are given at birth, we all live the same life. Who are we, as individuals, to fall custom to the ways of discrimination simply because we have not taken out the time to truly understand and love those with deemed difference. The symbolized meaning of one being mentally ill seems to create the most stigmatization simply due to the majority of American people who have not become willing enough to set aside the misunderstandings and differences towards mentally ill people. It is the symbolic attitude towards dealing with a mental illness or someone you know dealing with a mental illness that keeps people from taking the situation seriously. In schools, there are jokes thrown at mentally ill students because there are different and those adults even finding it hard to find a job based on the mental diagnosis. In other cases, we come to find a narrative surrounding mental illness that claims those who deal with mental illness are those who are weak and unable to move throughout society. This is where we come to find an increasing rate of mentally ill people suffering from social anxiety just at the fear of "normal" people not accepting them for their true form. Higher rates of poverty, homelessness, and unemployment amongst mentally ill people are all dealt at the hand of those who cannot seem to put aside one's pride or fear of misunderstanding and give those in need a helping hand through housing, workforce, and educational services. It is found that 60% of adults with a mental illness do not receive mental health services.






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