Stigma in Mental Health
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Many patients with mental illnesses often fail to receive adequate help for their conditions because most of them often delay seeking medical therapies and treatments. This case comes as a result of these patients going through the fear of unequal treatments, fear of losing their livelihood and their jobs. In general terms, stigma, along with other social issues like discrimination and prejudice in such patients is still an issue and can be harmful.
For one reason or another, stigmatization among mentally challenged people exists mainly because of the struggle they undergo with the disabilities and symptoms resulting from the illness. Also, they are challenged by the prejudice and stereotypes from the misconceptions that arise from the disorders. Consequently, the victims of these mental disorders are now missing the opportunities that determine good life, housing, healthcare, and attachments to other people.
Stigma has also become a problematic situation to the mentally ill individuals with complex, multiple needs that have been pushed to the margins of the community, in that, the social setting today is too harsh to people with personality disorders, addictions, homelessness, and criminal convictions, resulting to serious stigmatization issues. In a traditional setting, some parts of the world also worsen stigma on the mentally ill from their thoughts and beliefs that the conditions arise from the devil’s mark, arguing that it is a form of moral punishment (Kudva, K. et al., 2020).
Regrettably, stigma in mental health still exists and is common in society today. While stigmatization is not limited to psychological conditions, there still exists a negative attitude more on psychiatric conditions than in medical conditions. However, according to Casados, A. T. (2017), as scientists continue to research and learn about the causes of psychological conditions and the appropriate treatment procedures, there is hope that stigma will decline.
References
Casados, A. T. (2017). Reducing the stigma of mental illness: current approaches and future directions. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 24(3), 306-323.
Kudva, K. G., El Hayek, S., Gupta, A. K., Kurokawa, S., Bangshan, L., Armas‐Villavicencio, M. V. C., … & Sartorius, N. (2020). Stigma in mental illness: Perspective from eight Asian nations. Asia‐Pacific Psychiatry, 12(2), e12380.