The Stigma of Mental Health
Teaching Mental Health Frist Aid (a program from the National Council on Mental Well-Being), I have realized more and more where the stigma resides in people addressing or talking about their personal mental health challenges. I always knew that stigma existed; however, having a true handle on all of the different reasonings wasn’t something that I was always interested in exploring…Until NOW. In a simple Google search for the definition of stigma (from Oxford Languages) you will find the definition as, “a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.” That is actually really powerful within itself. For someone to admit that they feel disgrace due to a challenge that they are experiencing due to the way that they are currently thinking and/or behaving as if their thoughts and feelings aren’t valid, is ultimately sad (at least it makes me feel sad). Who sets these standards for what is considered “disgraceful” in life? And how did mental health become one of those standards of disgrace? Could it be how mental health was handled back before modern medicine and acceptance? Obviously, there is a strong history of how different cultures view mental health challenges, and even how misunderstood mental health challenges are to others to this day. One aspect that I value from the Mental Health Frist Aid curriculum is that there is an entire section devoted just to understanding the differences between mental health, mental health challenge, mental health disorder, and mental illness. While most people utilize these terms interchangeably they are not all the same. Just as we care for our physical health, we must care for our mental health as well. There are so many things in this life that separate us from “good” mental health. The reality is that even in that last statement I just made is a part of how even I can sometimes stigmatize mental health. As a society, it is important that we get better at not assigning our morals to mental health. Mental Health is not good or bad, it is the actions that occur as a result of our mental health that are good and bad. Let’s take the examples from our news lately: Mass shootings. As soon as one happens, the topic of mental health comes up before the victims families have proper time to grieve. While I absolutely agree that the shooters all have some sort of mental health disorder that needed to be addressed way before the incident occurred, the conversation needs to be reframed. If we only have mental health discussions when a mass shooting occurs, no wonder no one wants to come out and say that they have a mental health challenge. No one wants to be associated or correlated to a mass shooter. Thus, why we have the stigma we do today, especially in America. Mass shootings are disgraceful, and they deserve to have stigma attached to them always and forever; however, mental health does not deserve the same rap. Even the statistics show us that individuals with a mental health challenge are more prone to being violent against themselves (such as non-suicidal self-injury) and NOT violent toward others. Mass shootings are the outliers in the research. Decreasing the stigma is a part of the un-learning that we all need to do as a society. Let’s be real: Mental health is really on a spectrum. If I practice self-care daily, build positive social networks (or have positive familial relationships), and overall have positive protective factors in my life, it is very likely that my mental health is going to be healthy (like a stable tree). However, if I have multiple risk factors, don’t take care of myself, and my social interactions with others are negative the majority of the time, then it is very likely that my mental health is more like a set of flowers you can buy at a grocery store: it may do well for a couple of days after purchase, but if I’m not actively watering and attending to it, they will ultimately be in the trash or thrown outside sooner rather than later). These are just some of the factors that Mental Health Frist Aid teaches us. When an individual ends up with a mental health challenge getting the help that they need is so important so that their symptoms don’t worsen. But if they are going to feel stigma about getting the help that they need, those symptoms will worsen and possibly go from a mental health challenge to a mental health disorder that may take longer to recover from. So in reality, how are we going to work on de-stigmatizing mental health day by day, one person at a time? I have some practical steps:
STOP automatically correlating everything mental health with a mental health challenge or a mental health disorder. I can be having a day where I am grieving the loss of a loved one. This only means that my mental health for that day is lower than it is normally, and there is nothing wrong with my feelings of sadness over death. I have lower mental health bandwidth that day, and that is it. Think about it like this: If I sprained my ankle, it will hurt, I may cry, and I may have to get a brace for a while, but eventually, my ankle will heal and I will be back to “normal.” (whatever normal means…but that is a post for another day). Mental Health can be the SAME way.
STOP assigning good and bad to mental health challenges and disorders. Culturally we are all very different from one another. Can we start accepting people for our differences and not judging them for our differences? Having a mental health challenge or disorder is not ”bad” or “good.” It is what it is. In the example of my sprained ankle, someone might say that it was unfortunate that it happened to me, but I am not automatically assigned as a bad person because I sprained my ankle. The situation that surrounds the sprained ankle is assigned a value, but my worth isn’t, and the same should be said for a mental health challenge or disorder. The circumstances that surround someone being diagnosed with bipolar disorder is unfortunate, but the person with bipolar disorder has worth and value.
STOP using mental health challenges and disorders in your everyday language as though it is ok. How often have you heard someone say that someone is “really bipolar,” just because their emotions seem to be up and down often. Just because you have some knowledge or took a Psych class in high school (or college) doesn’t mean you should go around diagnosing everyone you feel doesn’t meet your standards of behavior! Let’s keep diagnosing to the professionals only. The language that we use everyday shapes how we view life. Do we say, “that sprained ankle girl is coming around the corner, let’s not talk to her.” Of course not, it was ridiculous just typing that out. But I bet, you have heard someone say that same phrase, but put mental health challenge or disorder there in the place of sprained ankle. And that is NOT ok.
These are not easy to do overnight. It will take practice, because some of us are so accustomed to these things. But as I stated earlier, one step, one day, and one person at a time, we can decrease the stigma that surrounds mental health! If you read this post and are now interested in becoming Certified in Mental Health Frist Aid, check out my page on MHFA, and see if a scheduled class is available. You can save your seat for a class today!!!
