stigmatic mental illness

Running head: Stigma Surrounding mental illness 1

Stigma Surrounding Mental Illness

Blake W. Dean

Dalton State College

Stigma Surrounding mental illness 2

Stigma Surrounding Mental Illness

Mental illness is an issue surrounded with stigmatic behaviors and attitudes. Whether

promoted through media, entertainment or personal prejudices, these stigmas greatly impact

those suffering with mental illness by adding to the already present symptoms. To reduce

stigmatic behaviors, it is important to understand what stigmas exist and try to identify them in

the context of the individual’s life. There are two different kinds of stigma, self and societal.

Both of these types of stigma have similar effects on the self-esteem and self-image of a mentally

ill person. Sometimes these stigmatic perceptions of mental illness have no factual base but

simply exist because of what is shown through popular culture. Being educated in what is true

and what is false about mental illness is the key to identifying stigma and how to reduce it.

Impact of Stigma on the Mentally Ill

Often times when popular culture, the media or individuals make degrading comments or

add to the negative opinion and uniformed view of the mentally ill, the people suffering because

of them are left out of the equation. The impact that stigma has on the mentally is sometimes

insurmountable. As Patrick Corrigan (2002) says, the impact is “twofold”. Public and self

stigma both play dramatic roles in the lives of people suffering from mental illness. Corrigan

defines public stigma as “the reaction that the general population has to people with mental

illness. He defines self-stigma as, “the prejudice which people with mental illness turn against

themselves” (“Understanding the impact”, para. 2). Adding to the already present symptoms

and struggles of their illness with insecurity and prejudices only has negative consequences for

the person with the illness.


Self Stigma

One prevalent type of stigma is one that is not often discussed by those suffering from

mental illness is self stigma. Thomas Britt (2007) defines self-stigma as “the internalization of

how the public portrays people with mental illness and the belief in that portrayal (p.157). David

Mechanic’s (1994) hypothesis was that those with mental illness may take the stigma that is

presented in their world and add it to their self-identity, causing their self-esteem to lower

significantly. Like societal stigma, self-stigma can also inhibit mentally ill people

from seeking treatment (p.155-164). Cooper (2003) found in his study, that those who are

mentally ill will be less willing to seek treatment if they believe that they are the cause of their

disorder. This lowered self-esteem and degrading view of self comes from the stigmatic attitude

and view they have upon their own mental illness (p. 339-341). While this kind of stigma comes

from within oneself, it is caused by the stigma that runs rampant in popular culture.

Violence Paired with Mental Illness

There are varying types of existing stigmatic ideas towards mental illness. One of these

stigmatic mindsets is that people with mental illness have the tendency to be more violent than

those without mental illness. Applebaum (2000) says that in the “Macarthur Violence Risk

Assessment Study”, “one of the non-content-related dimensions of delusions assessed by the

MacArthur- Maudsley Delusions Assessment Schedule was significantly related to violence at

any follow-up evaluation. Self-reported duration of delusions similarly had no relationship to

subsequent violence at any follow-up assessment” (p. 568). This study showed clearly that

mental illness by itself does not directly influence violent behaviors, but when variables are

added violence can occur. If it has been proven that mental illness alone does not promote


violent behaviors, where does this stereotype for mentally ill people come from? Why is this

idea that mentally ill people have violent tendencies still prevalent, when science has proven

otherwise? One theory is that much of this comes from the media that is produced and

consumed. For example, in Alfred Hitchcock’s award-winning motion picture Psycho (1960),

the main character Norman Bates is an isolated man, who has multiple personalities and he

commits multiple murders. This representation of a mental illness paired with violence simply

promotes the public’s idea that violent actions are always in correlation with mental illness.

Cultural Stigma Towards Mental Illness

Another factor that can add to stigma is culture. Many studies have been done

researching the effect, one’s culture has on the stigmatic behaviors surrounding mental illness.

Amy Y. Zhang (1998), Lonnie Snowden and Stanley Sue studied 161 Asian or Pacific Islander

Americans and1332 Caucasian Americans at random to study ethnic differences in discussing

mental illness and willingness to seek treatment. In their study they found that only 12% of the

selected Asian Americans discuss mental illnesses with a relative; compared to 25% of

Caucasian Americans. Also, 4% of the Asian Americans that were studied were willing to seek

treatment from a psychiatrist; compared to 26% Caucasian Americans (p. 322). Whaley (1997)

created a study that also looked at race, ethnicity and attitudes towards mental ill people. In his

study, he found that, Asian and Hispanic Americans felt more threatened by mentally ill people

than whites did. Also, he learned that interaction with the mentally ill helped lessen the negative

views for white Americans, it did not for other ethnicities such as African Americans and

American Indians (p.1328-1329).


How Stigma is Being Battled

Although stigma towards mental illness is still quite active, there are many organizations

battling negative views and stereotypes head on. First, the National Institute of Mental Health is

currently running a campaign called, “Real Men. Real Depression.”. This is an education

campaign where they provide materials to over 420 local organizations, like the University of

Michigan to help depression prevention and help those who are suffering seek treatment

(Kersting para. 2-3). Another organization working to fight against stigma is the National

Alliance on Mental Illness. Currently they are hosting a “Stigma Free Pledge” drive on their

website. This asks for your name and some personal information and simply asks that

you pledge to refuse to live stigmatically and be open to the realities of mental illnesses. The

NAMI gives three steps to becoming “Stigma Free”. Step One is to Educate yourself and others;

By understanding mental health issues one will be able to dispel incorrect ideas about mental

health. Step Two is to see the person, not the illness. Step Three is to take action on mental

health issues by pushing for better legislation to improve lives for everyone (“How You”).

Finally, there is a continuance of research being done on what causes stigmas to exist and how

one can battle against the stigmatic tendencies of popular culture.

What Can Still Be Done to Reduce Stigma

While many are doing great work to lessen the stigmatized view of mental illness, there is

still much that can be done. Peter Byrne (2000) has many ideas, however he recognizes that

education must come first and foremost, not only to those outside the psychology profession, but

also to those inside. To begin teaching and discussing the present stigmas and how they can be

changed. “To promote social inclusion and reduce discrimination.” Byrne also suggests that the


“nature of discrimination” will be altered as the ways that the mentally ill are discriminated

against are challenged intelligently and successfully. To identify prejudice in every context, is

how prejudice will be changed and eventually ended (Stigma of mental illness para. 1-27).

Conclusion

Information is key to understanding mental illness and avoiding stigmatic tendencies.

Gathering information about the different kinds of stigma, the lack of correlation between mental

illnesses and violence, and how one can make effective change are all helpful. Understanding

the impact, it can have on victims of mental illness can assist in identifying stereotypes,

prejudices and stigmatic behavior. It is also important to highlight the achievements of

organizations that are making effective change and walk alongside them, while looking ahead to

see what else can be done. Learning the research that has been done on stigma is staggering,

however gives great understanding in the role that the media, culture and self-esteem play in

promoting or destroying that stigma.


References

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Britt, T. W., & Castro, C. A. (2007). The Stigma of Mental Health Problems in the Military.

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https://www.nami.org/stigmafree#iamstigmafree

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