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Mental Health Stigma Poster Information
Mental Health Stigma Poster Information
The Stigma Free Society Campaign
Q: What is Mental Health
Stigma?
•The negative/harmful/ damaging
attitudes towards a person who
have a mental health condition.
•It usually occurs when society sees
someone as less desirable because
their behavior appears different to
societal norms.
(Bhavsar et al., 2019)$
Elements of Stigma
•Ignorance: Lack of knowledge
about mental health.
•Prejudice: Negative views about
the person.
•Discrimination: Unwanted
behavior that disadvantage the
stigmatized person.
$(Bhavsar et al., 2019)$
Types of Stigma
•Social Stigma: It is also known as
public stigma and refers to the
labels and stereotypes used to
define a person with mental health
issues. The people are marked as
tainted and prevented from growing
as an individual by the society.
•Self-Stigma: It occurs when a
person with mental health illness
accepts the negative actions of the
society and internalizes the negative
views. It can cause low confidence,
self-esteem, hopelessness, and
shame.
•Note: Both types of stigma prevent
a person from seeking help due to
fear and embarrassment.
(Yoshimura et al., 2018)
Why it is Important?
•1 in 5 American is harmed by stigma
due to their mental health
conditions.
•More than 60% of people with
mental health problems do not seek
services and professional attention
they need.
•Stigma affect people trapped in
cruel cycle of discrimination leading
to devastating outcomes for the
individual, their family, society, and
community
(Kinman, and Teoh, 2018)
Q: How mental health discrimination
currently manifests itself
Discrimination is a kind of negative treatment
one receives on the basis of their mental
health condition (Li et al., 2019).
Discrimination can be direct and indirect and
every third person in the UK claims the mental
health discrimination. The major forms of
discrimination are discussed below:
Labeling
•People with mental health are often labeled
as abnormal or different, as a result of which
they are treated with discrimination in the
society. Their mental illness and unusual
behavior leads to public avoidance and
labeling.
•People with mental health problems are
mostly labeled with undesirable attributes
such as mad or psycho, which again leads
the view that people with mental health
diseases are different and should be
excluded from society (Li et al., 2019).
Stereotyping/ Mental Health Profiling
•A stereotype is a fixed general image or
belief based on characteristic assumptions
about a person or the group they belong to.
Due to the several misconceptions about
mental illness, individuals with mental health
problems face stereotypical comments and
are challenged by prejudice from society.
•However, mental health profiling is the
action taken for security or public protection
based on stereotypes about individuals with
mental health, instead of forming public
safety at rational grounds (Benoit et al.,
2018).
Social Rejection
•Most people's illness becomes worse when
they experience discrimination and rejection
from family, friends, workplace and society.
•Mental health stigma merged with social
discrimination and exclusion follows
individuals with a continuous cycle of illness.
Social isolation, unemployment, bad housing
and poverty, they all make situations even
worse for people suffering with mental
illness (Benoit et al., 2018).$
•Do you know that the main
perpetrators of discrimination are the
family members, friends, employers,
and colleagues?
Q: Potential strategies to reduce
stigma and discrimination
•Gain Knowledge: There are certain
truths and myths about mental health
illness. Educate yourself about the facts
instead of believing the myths. Mental
illness is just like other diseases
because it has a biological basis.
Therefore, people must learn about it
(Henderson, and Gronholm, 2018).
•Don’t avoid them: Do not avoid
people with mental illness and connect
with them so they do not feel isolated.
Talk to them but don't use hurtful
language. Start positive conversations
with them (Henderson, and Gronholm,
2018).
•Encourage them to get Treatment:
Help them believe that mental health
problems are treatable. Connect them
with professionals, mental health
institutions, and other resources that
can help them to recover from this
illness (Garcia, David, and Mapaye,
2018).
•Beware of your Words: Never use
stigmatizing language with them such
as insane, abnormal, crazy, retarded,
and disturbed. Negative words and
phrases can have a long-lasting impact
on the people with mental health issues
(Garcia, David, and Mapaye, 2018).
•Be Careful with your Attitudes and
Behaviors: Identify actions that can
cause hurt people. For example,
disrespecting (Garcia, David, and
Mapaye, 2018).
•Focus on the Positive Side: Highlight
their strengths and focus on their goals
and interest rather than their deficits. It
helps people to gain confidence and
enable them to strive for what they
desire instead of thinking and feeling
about their incompleteness (Garcia,
David, and Mapaye, 2018).
•Provide Emotional Support: See the
person, not the illness. Actively listen to
people what they have to say. Show
emotional support, empathize with
them but don't show them that they are
incompetent and disabled in any way
(Garcia, David, and Mapaye, 2018).
•Spread Awareness: Educating others
is very important for reducing mental
health stigma and discrimination. Pass
on the knowledge and facts to the
society and help them replace their
negative views with positive ones. If
people around you even media sources
present false information, challenge
their myths and continue supporting the
needy ones (Henderson, and Gronholm,
2018). 1
•Let’s make this Campaign Successful:
Mental Health Discrimination should be
stopped. The sooner- the better
(Henderson, and Gronholm, 2018).
References
•Bhavsar, V., Schofield, P., Das-Munshi, J. and
Henderson, C., 2019. Regional differences in mental
health stigma—Analysis of nationally representative
data from the Health Survey for England, 2014.$PloS
one,$14(1), p.e0210834.
•Yoshimura, Y., Bakolis, I. and Henderson, C., 2018.
Psychiatric diagnosis and other predictors of
experienced and anticipated workplace discrimination
and concealment of mental illness among mental
health service users in England.$Social psychiatry and
psychiatric epidemiology,$53(10), pp.1099-1109.
•Kinman, G. and Teoh, K., 2018. What could make a
difference to the mental health of UK doctors? A review
of the research evidence.
•Li, J., Fan, Y., Zhong, H.Q., Duan, X.L., Chen, W., Evans-
Lacko, S. and Thornicroft, G., 2019. Effectiveness of an
anti-stigma training on improving attitudes and
decreasing discrimination towards people with mental
disorders among care assistant workers in Guangzhou,
China.$International journal of mental health
systems,$13(1), p.1.
•Stangl, A.L., Earnshaw, V.A., Logie, C.H., van Brakel, W.,
Simbayi, L.C., Barré, I. and Dovidio, J.F., 2019. The
Health Stigma and Discrimination Framework: a global,
crosscutting framework to inform research,
intervention development, and policy on health-related
stigmas.$BMC Medicine,$17(1), p.31.
•Benoit, C., Jansson, S.M., Smith, M. and Flagg, J., 2018.
Prostitution stigma and its effect on the working
conditions, personal lives, and health of sex
workers.$The Journal of Sex Research,$55(4-5), pp.457-
471.
•Henderson, C. and Gronholm, P., 2018. Mental health
related stigma as a ‘wicked problem’: the need to
address stigma and consider the
consequences.$International journal of environmental
research and public health,$15(6), p.1158.
•Garcia, G.M., David, E.J.R. and Mapaye, J.C., 2018.
Internalized racial oppression as a moderator of the
relationship between experiences of racial
discrimination and mental distress among Asians and
Pacific Islanders.$Asian American Journal of Psychology.
