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For anyone with a mental illness label, they know only too well that they are judged forever. Whether they are a functioning individual or not isn’t considered.
If she is singing one day, she must be manic. If he is quiet sometimes, oh, he must be in depression. It’s as if people are not allowed to have normal moods anymore, and worse is how the stigma attached to mental health diagnoses affects you outside, at work, in relationships, and how society views you.
I have a friend, who never discloses at work that she has an issue or takes medication for the fear of being judged. Or another who hides his illness from his children. All of these things are done precisely because of the constant judging, the stigma and discrimination that surround anyone with a mental illness label.
In simple terms, mental health issues can be caused by life stresses, psycho-social issues, sometimes it may be genetic and some people are more predisposed to being affected. It’s often a temporary condition and recovery is very, very possible in many cases, especially if the person affected wishes to take an active part in his or her healing.
In my case, I read extensively on the subject and embarked voluntarily upon a CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) model of help. Also the fact that I had been incorrectly labelled did not help! In other cases, it may be a lifelong management of a condition and there are several ways of dealing with it. But even years after recovery, now that I am a fully functioning and productive person, I am continually judged with the mental illness label I had years ago, “oh she is bipolar,” as though that is the only thing that defines me.
Discrimination at the workplace is also widespread. With many employers unwilling to take on people with mental health issues, this is one of the largest groups of any disability that is unemployed. Often people have no option but to resort to hiding the fact that they have any issue just to get work.
In many cases, it is this discrimination that prevents people from getting help. “I’m not crazy,” they say, when they think that perhaps they should go see a therapist or get help. And it’s precisely the conditioning we have all had growing up, from our parents or society around, “oh, you know, that person is crazy” and talking about what they did in hushed whispers. If we grow up thinking that to have any mental health issue is being crazy and that is the last thing we want, obviously it is hidden for as long as possible. Why can’t it be treated like a medical condition, which is what it is, and be casual? “Oh, I have diabetes, so no sugar, please,” is treated much differently to “I have anxiety disorder.”
In a survey of over 1700 adults in the UK, it was found that:
(1) the most commonly held belief was that people with mental health problems were dangerous – especially those with schizophrenia, alcoholism and drug dependence,
(2) people believed that some mental health problems such as eating disorders and substance abuse were self-inflicted, and
(3) respondents believed that people with mental health problems were generally hard to talk to.
People held these beliefs regardless of their background, education or position in society and when questioned about whether they would employ people with mental health problems, the answer was less likely.
Stigmatization comes in many forms, distrust, avoidance, pity, gossip, etc. Stigma is also prevalent in the classroom where teachers expect sufferers to under-perform and this may not be the case!
A lot of the common beliefs about ‘mad’ people stem from media. Cinema often portrays schizophrenics in stereotypical and violent roles, which reinforces what people generally believe about people with mental illness. These go a long way in continuing to make people behave in a discriminatory way towards anyone affected.
Worse than the external stigma and discrimination around mental health is the internal stigma. It’s a condition that often affects people’s self esteem and their own beliefs of recovery are linked to the self stigmatization. If they believe they can’t recover, all the medication and therapy in the world will not help. There is often increased social isolation, and this is often linked to a self belief that they will not be liked.
In the UK, there has been a huge campaign to end stigma. A similar approach will be needed in India, one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to how it deals with those affected with mental health conditions.
Mental health issues originate in the mind. So does stigma and discrimination. Let’s work hand in hand to eradicate what we can to make recovery faster and make our society more inclusive.
Note: In this article, I speak about mental health illness as that is how the term is commonly understood and referred to. But I am of the firm belief that a lot of these labels are simply wrong, over-diagnosed and cause more problems than they solve. People are people, and just as there are different colours, so do people vary… we cannot all be the same, react the same, and have the same moods. And to simply label someone without any tool for looking into their brain seems wrong. Until there are better diagnostic tools, I think the world needs more love and tolerance!
Published here earlier.
Image source: shutterstock
Jhilmil Breckenridge is a poet, writer and activist who speaks out about mental health, incarceration and abuse. She has just completed her MA in Creative Writing from the University of Westminster. Her poems often worry read more...
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