It is difficult to know where to start and which direction to go when talking about stigma in the mental health world……it’s so pervasive.  So, I doubt this will be the only blog I write about this topic.  No matter how much progress we, as mental health advocates and educators make, there will always be ignorance on this planet.  One hopes that eventually the mean spirited and judgmental views of some will dissipate.  I know that’s something most of us wish for, but given the cold, harsh, and sometimes outright  cruel rhetoric spewed on national and local broadcasting stations, one wonders if we will ever be the compassionate humans we were meant to be.  I can only change the channel or turn off the radio.  And, when I receive an offensive email – whether it be something negative about a person or a group, a political view or a sexual  or cultural persuasion  I can delete before reading.  I just wish I didn’t have to because I believe negativity causes more negativity………it’s a karma thing.

As mentioned in my last blog, people with mental illness suffer some of the most hurtful stigma in today’s society……at least in the United States.  I’m told that in Vietnam, people with schizophrenia are treated compassionately and carefully as the people there know how vunerable that person is. It is proven that support is one of the key elements in reaching mental health recovery.  It’s all part of the big picture.  Like the intergrative care taught at the University of Arizona….mind, body and spiritual health are equally important.  You can’t treat just one aspect and expect to have a healthy whole person.

Stigma is a main reason why some people don’t seek treatment, and even when they do stigma can keep them from fully participating in their recovery.  Discriminating words like “wacko, psycho, looney and crazy,” continue to be used in the media and on the streets.  Other than saying the person has schizophrenia, people say “he is a schizophrenic.”  Would you ever say the person is a cancer?  Absolutely not.  The person is a person first, with a diagnosis second.

Stigma is the reason why mental health coverage is not always covered in one’s insurance plan, or if it is covered, it’s at a much lower benefit.  With the recent passage of mental health parity on the national level we hope this inequality will change, but it remains to be seen.  It may be watered down by the time it reaches the people that need it the most.  On a state level our parity legislation continues to fall short.  With comments like the one from Republican Senator Russel Pearce from Mesa who in his drive to cut health care funding called the behavioral health system a “Cadillac Program” it is  yet another sign that  some people don’t get it……..mental illnesses are physical brain disorders.  Thank goodness Medicaid funding on the national level has grown while state funding has not. 

Creating awareness about mental illness and educating people about the reality of recovery will help to reduce stigma.  Once everyone knows, in their hearts, that people living with mental illness are just people, like every one else, maybe the stigma will decrease.  There will always be “mean spirited,” judgemental people.  I hope that as we evolve, they will become fewer and fewer.

The President’s Commission on Mental Health, The Surgeon

General’s Report, the Resource Center to Address Discrimination

and Stigma (ADS Center), a program of the federal Substance

Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) all

recommend breaking the barriers of stigma so individuals who

have struggled to recover may live and participate in a

supportive understanding community . (2003)

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 at 1:38 pm and is filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.