Stigmatization of Mental Illness

Myth: Mental health problems don't affect me.

Fact: Mental health problems are actually very common.

One in 5 American adults experience a mental health issue.

One in 10 young people experience a period of major depression.

One in 20 Americans live with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression.

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. It accounts for the loss of more than 38,000 American lives each year, more than double the number of lives lost to homicide.

Mental Health Myths and Facts

Myth: Children don't experience mental health problems.

Fact: Even very young children may show early warning signs of mental health concerns. These mental health problems are often clinically diagnosable, and can be a product of the interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors.

Half of all mental health disorders show first signs before a person turns 14 years old, and three quarters of mental health disorders begin before age 24.

Unfortunately, less than 20% of children and adolescents with diagnosable mental health problems receive the treatment they need. Early mental health support can help a child before problems interfere with other developmental needs.


Myth: People with mental health problems are violent and unpredictable.

Fact: The vast majority of people with mental health problems are no more likely to be violent than anyone else. Most people with mental illness are not violent and only 3%-5% of violent acts can be attributed to individuals living with a serious mental illness. In fact, people with severe mental illnesses are over 10 times more likely to be victims of violent crime than the general population.


You probably know someone with a mental health problem and don't even realize it, because many people with mental health problems are highly active and productive members of our communities.


Myth: People with mental health needs, even those who are managing their mental illness, cannot tolerate the stress of holding down a job.

Fact: People with mental health problems are just as productive as other employees. Employers who hire people with mental health problems report good attendance and punctuality as well as motivation, good work, and job tenure on par with or greater than other employees.

When employees with mental health problems receive effective treatment, it can result in:

Lower total medical costs

Increased productivity

Lower absenteeism

Decreased disability costs


Myth: Personality weakness or character flaws cause mental health problems. People with mental health problems can snap out of it if they try hard enough.

Fact: Mental health problems have nothing to do with being lazy or weak and many people need help to get better. Many factors contribute to mental health problems, including:

Biological factors, such as genes, physical illness, injury, or brain chemistry

Life experiences, such as trauma or a history of abuse

Family history of mental health problems

People with mental health problems can get better and many recover completely.


Myth: There is no hope for people with mental health problems. Once a friend or family member develops mental health problems, he or she will never recover .

Fact: Studies show that people with mental health problems get better and many recover completely. Recovery refers to the process in which people are able to live, work, learn, and participate fully in their communities. There are more treatments, services, and community support systems than ever before, and they work.

Myth: Therapy and self-help are a waste of time. Why bother when you can just take a pill?

Fact: Treatment for mental health problems varies depending on the individual and could include medication, therapy, or both. Many individuals work with a support system during the healing and recovery process.

Mental Health Myths and Facts Helping Individuals with Mental Health Problems

Myth: I can't do anything for a person with a mental health problem.

Fact: Friends and loved ones can make a big difference. Only 38% of adults with diagnosable mental health problems and less than 20% of children and adolescents receive needed treatment. Friends and family can be important influences to help someone get the treatment and services they need by:

Reaching out and letting them know you are available to help

Helping them access mental health services

Learning and sharing the facts about mental health, especially if you hear something that isn't true

Treating them with respect, just as you would anyone else

Refusing to define them by their diagnosis or using labels such as "crazy"


Myth: Prevention doesn’t work. It is impossible to prevent mental illnesses.

Fact: Prevention of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders focuses on addressing known risk factors such as exposure to trauma that can affect the chances that children, youth, and young adults will develop mental health problems. Promoting the social -emotional well-being of children and youth leads to:

Higher overall productivity

Better educational outcomes

Lower crime rates

Stronger economies

Lower health care costs

Improved quality of life

Increased lifespan

Improved family life


It's no secret there's a serious stigma attached to mental illness. According to the CDC, only 25 percent of people with mental health issues feel that other people are compassionate and sympathetic toward them. It’s a shameful statistic when one in four people have been touched by some form of mental illness.

Experts say that part of the problem when it comes to criticizing someone's mental health is a lack of empathy and knowledge about the ailments. Yet, despite the staggering evidence and rhetoric aimed at helping people understand, many people still don’t get that being diagnosed with a mental illness isn’t something that’s in their control – just like having the flu, or food poisoning, or cancer isn’t in their control.

In an effort to reframe the conversation, artist Robot Hugs created a comic that displays what it would be like if we discussed physical illness in the same way we do mental illness. Take a look at the graphics, makes you think, doesn't it?

What If People Treated Physical Illness Like Mental Illness? Huffington Post By Lindsay Holmes 11/13/2014

4 Psychological Terms that You're Using Incorrectly

Use People First Language

Do the words used to describe you have an impact on your life? You bet! Contrary to the age-old "sticks and stones" lesson we learned as children, words do matter!

For too long, people who happen to have conditions we call "disabilities" have been subjected to devaluation, marginalization, prejudice, and more. And the first way to devalue someone is through language, by using words or labels to identify a person/group as "less-than," as "the others—not like us," and so forth. Once a person/group has been identified this way, it makes it easier to justify prejudice and discrimination. Our language shapes our attitudes; our attitudes shape our language; they're intertwined. And our attitudes and language drive our actions!

Using People First Language—putting the person before the disability—and eliminating old, prejudicial, and hurtful descriptors, can move us in a new direction. People First Language is not political correctness; instead, it demonstrates good manners, respect, the Golden Rule, and more—it can change the way we see a person, and it can change the way a person sees herself!

LET'S PUT THE PERSON FIRST, NOT THE DISABILITY

Seven Important things we can do to reduce Stigma and Discrimination

1. Know the facts.

Educate yourself about mental health problems. Learn the facts instead of the myths like you are doing today.

2. Be aware of your attitudes and behavior

We’ve all grown up with prejudices and judgmental thinking. But we can change the way we think! See people as unique human beings, not as labels or stereotypes. See the person beyond their mental illness; they have many other personal attributes that do not disappear just because they also have a mental illness.

3. Choose your words carefully

The way we speak can affect the way other people think and speak. Don't use hurtful or derogatory language.

4. Educate others

Find opportunities to pass on facts and positive attitudes about people with mental health problems. If your friends, family, co-workers or even the media present information that is not true, challenge their myths and stereotypes. Let them know how their negative words and incorrect descriptions affect people with mental health problems by keeping alive the false ideas.

5. Focus on the positive

People with mental health and substance use problems make valuable contributions to society. Their health problems are just one part of who they are. We’ve all heard the negative stories. Let’s recognize and applaud the positive ones.

6. Support people

Treat people who have mental health problems with dignity and respect. Think about how you’d like others to act toward you if you were in the same situation. If you have family members, friends or co-workers with substance use or mental health problems, support their choices and encourage their efforts to get well.

7. Include everyone

It is against the law for employers and people who provide services to discriminate against people with mental health and substance use problems. Denying people access to things such as jobs, housing and health care, which the rest of us take for granted, violates human rights. People with mental health and substance use problems have a right to take an equal part in society. Let’s make sure that happens.

Seven Important things we can do to reduce Stigma and Discrimination

We from NAMI Thurston Mason, Thurston Mason Regional Support Network and Thurston Thrives thank you for attending our presentation.

Talking about mental illness and the effects stigma causes to both an individual and our community allows the light to shine in the darkness!

If you want more information or would like us to do this presentation for another group, agency or organization, please call us at 360-493-6021 or email us at [email protected]

Stigmatization of Mental Illness

Health & Medicine

Transcript of Stigmatization of Mental Illness