What is Stigma?
Stigma refers to anything negative that society, or as individuals we apply
to a characteristic, illness or anything
else associating it with feelings of shame, guilt, or the desire to hide it away. There are various characteristics upon which stigma is based such as sexual
orientation, religious views, mental health
conditions like psychosis, race and ethnic origin.
The different forms of Stigma
Prejudice: this is when a person is pre-judged before you know anything about them
Misconceptions: these are widely-held
beliefs which are false. it is an idea that is wrong because it has been based on a failure to understand a situation.
Stereotyping: this is painting
everyone with the same brush such as the belief that people with mental health conditions should be treated as one treats a child.
Discrimination
What is Discrimination?
Whilst stigma is about perceptions and attitudes
people have towards others, discrimination is about actions people do to cement
or validate those attitudes e.g. people are treated differently based on stigma
attached to them or are excluded from activities “normal people” are allowed to participate in e.g. cooking for the
family, going to school, getting employed. Would
you employ a person who has recovered? Or live them to play with your young
children alone?
In
short stigmatized people can be treated unfairly based on incorrect beliefs
held by the public and society.
Effects of Stigma on persons with Psychosis
Stigma on people with Psychosis can be particularly harmful. Researchers and service providers around the world have noticed that the stigma surrounding what people think
of when they hear “psychosis” may actually be more harmful to recovery than
the symptoms of psychosis themselves. Stigma negatively affects both the person with the
illness and their family, their family may respond to community stigma by
stigmatizing their own relative e.g. hiding the ill person when visitors come.
Some
of the issues that come up because of stigma within communities
- Can’t talk about mental illness with some
friends and family
- Stressful telling people
- You don’t tell people when
actually you want them to know and talk about it
- You feel judged and people
are intrusive
- Feel emotionally abused
- Become isolated as friends disappear
- Poor
housing in rough areas makes service users feel unsafe,
- Prevents people seeking
support
- Lose your job
- Makes it more difficult to accept that you have a
mental illness
Stigma
reduction strategies
There
are 3 main strategies used to reduce stigma and these are explained below in detail.
Education: this involves community awareness raising about the true
nature of psychosis and treatments available. Communities should be made to understand that anyone can develop psychosis
and that treatment is available enabling people to recover or manage the illness allowing for returning back to live as normal a life as possible .
Protest:
This should not be confused with political
protest or demonstration, mental health protest is about advocating for people
with mental health conditions by using actions that suppress stigma and
discrimination. e.g. speaking out when you see a person chained to a tree or
being excluded from community activities based on stigmatizing beliefs.
