Stigmatization

What is mental health stigma?

Mental health stigma can be divided into two types. There is Social stigma and self stigma.

Social stigma is when someone has an extreme disapproval of a person or group on socially characteristic grounds that are perceived, and serve to distinguish them, from other members of a society.  Self stigma is the internalizing by the mental health sufferer of their perceptions of discrimination, and perceived stigma can significantly affect feelings of shame and later lead to poorer treatment outcomes.

 What factors cause stigma?

First, the medical model implies that mental health problems are on the same level as physical illnesses and may result from medical or physical dysfunction in some way. This by itself implies that people with mental health problems are in some way “different” from “normally” functioning individuals. Secondly, the medical model implies diagnosis, and diagnosis implies a label that is applied to a “patient”. That label may well be associated with undesirable attributes, and this again will perpetuate the view that people with mental health problems are different and should be treated with caution.

Why does stigma matter?

Stigma involve prejudicial attitudes and discriminating behavior towards individuals with mental health problems, and the social effects of this include exclusion, poor social support, poorer subjective quality of life, and low self-esteem. As well as it’s affect on the quality of daily living, stigma also has a detrimental effect on treatment outcomes, and so hinders efficient and effective recovery from mental health problems. In particular, self-stigma is correlated with poorer vocational outcomes and increased social isolation. These factors alone represent significant reasons for attempting to eradicate mental health stigma and ensure that social inclusion is facilitated and recovery can be efficiently achieved.

 Who holds stigmatizing beliefs about mental health problems?

Many people hold stigmatizing beliefs about mental health problems. Both people who know someone with a mental health problem and people that don’t, have stigmatizing beliefs. Moses (2010) discovered that adolescents with mental health problems were mostly stigmatized by peers, teachers, and even family members.