Stop👏The👏Stigma👏

Okay, I cannot begin to explain how long the stigma around mental illness has stuck around and how freaking annoying it is.  Very few people genuinely want to take this topic seriously and that's why it is neglected so much. 

Yes, social media has played a great role in educating others on this topic but there are still a lot of people who refuse to believe something like this exists and it is as important as physical health.

What a lot of people don't understand is that this thing can stick around for a longer time than most physical problems and can be very harmful in the long run; which is why I want to play my role to apprise people on why we should stop the stigma.

First things first,

What is a 'Mental Illness' 

In a nutshell, it could be described as conditions that affect your thinking, feeling, mood severely. These conditions deeply impact day-to-day living and may also affect the ability to relate to others adversely. 

There isn't just 'one' mental illness or just 'one' treatment to it.

They are of different severity in different people. Some people may be able to cope with it easily whereas others might need some help. Regardless, its nothing to be ashamed of.

To the bigger question now,

The Stigma around a Mental Illness

When someone say gets a fracture for example, you'll see a line of people in front of you who are concerned about kya hua, kese hua, hoping you recover from it soon. But if someone gets diagnosed with something that has to do with the functioning of the brain psychologically, you just have hardly 2-3 people who're there for you. Baaki sab...Chup? No way. What 90% of people do is talk behind your back and make fun of you. Hardly anyone wants to actually address the issue and help you through it.

That. That is the Stigma. 

Peeth peeche baat karna and refusal to accept that something like that exists. That is the stigma.

The stigma surrounding major mental illness creates many barriers. People who experience mental illness face discrimination and prejudice on a daily basis even though it is not their fault.

The roots of stigma are in human fear or ignorance.  Our society makes use of labels like “crazy,” “retard,” or “psycho” which are associated with stereotypes – one of that is that mental illness that leads to incompetence, violence. Embracing stereotypes like those can result in prejudice in opposition to the mentally unwell and may be visible within side the discrimination that consequences from the ideals of the one. People with psychiatric problems are regularly remoted or compelled out of groups, lecture rooms and jobs. That also can result in “self-stigma,” when a person internalizes the societal ideals and prejudices, ensuing in decreased self-esteem, restricted aspirations, secrecy, tension and treatment 

Types of Stigma

This can be divided into two major sectors; self-stigma and public stigma.

Public stigma is the response that the general population has to humans with mental illness.  Self-stigma is the unfairness which humans with mental illness flip in opposition to themselves.  Both public and self-stigma can be understood in phrases of 3 components: stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination.  Stereotypes are considered as especially efficient, social know-how systems which are discovered through maximum participants of a social group. Stereotypes are considered "social" because they constitute together agreed-upon notions of businesses of persons. They are efficient because people can quickly generate impressions and expectations of individuals who belong to a stereotyped group.

How can you help?

Everyone has a role to play in creating a mentally healthy community – one that is inclusive, rejects discrimination and supports recovery. Here are some ways how you can help destigmatize the stigma around us:

• Learn the facts about mental illness and sharing them with family, friends, work colleagues and classmates.
• Get to know people with personal experiences of mental illness so you learn to see them for the person they are rather than their illness.
• Don't judge, label or discriminate when you meet people with mental illness. Treat all people with respect and dignity
• Avoid using language that puts the illness first and the person second. Say a person with bipolar disorder’ rather than ‘that person is bipolar’.
• Speaking up when you hear people around you making stereotypical or inaccurate comments about mental illness.

Share your own experience of mental illness (if you have experienced it and feel comfortable doing so). This will help dispel myths and encourage others to do the same. 

Mental illness is not something shameful that needs to be hidden.

There has been progress in reducing the stigma of mental illness in the last two decades, no doubt about that. Evidence and examples of change are easily cited, but until significantly more than 20 per cent of people who need treatment are receiving it, it’s difficult to see the glass as half full.

So, let’s talk about mental illness. Let’s all work to stop the stigma.

That was it for today! I've been meaning to write this for a really long time and did so much research on it before doing so. Drop your thoughts and views on this topic and don't forget to share and subscribe for more content every Friday! 

Signing off,

Kuhu :)