Mental Health Awareness & Stigma

Stigma is a set of unfair beliefs that a society or group of people have about something. There is stigma attached to mental health, substance abuse, poverty and many other experiences that people go through. Stigma reduces someone from being a whole person to being labelled as their diagnosis or the symptoms they experience.

Stigma encourages people with mental health conditions to isolate themselves because of judgement. Isolation leads to challenges with reaching out, getting needed support and living well. Due to stigma, people living with mental health conditions are:

• Alienated and seen as “others”
• Perceived as dangerous
• Seen as irresponsible or unable to make their own decisions
• Less likely to be hired
• Less likely to get safe housing
• More likely to be criminalized than offered health care services
• Afraid of rejection to the point that they don’t always pursue opportunities
• Not comfortable talking to their friends and family about the experiences they are having
• More likely to internalize stigma that exists in our culture, damaging hopes for recovery
• More likely to not seek treatment from mental health professionals
• More likely to have their conditions worsen because of the lack of support and care that they need to recover. This can often lead a person to take their own life because they feel alone

They are not alone; they can recover and there is hope!