Response to Stigma, Mental Illness and Shame

Response to: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/10/27/stigma-mental-illness-and-shame/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WorldOfPsychology+%28World+of+Psychology%29&utm_content=Google+Reader#respond

Jenise Harmon proves a valid point that mental illnesses have less of a negative stigma today than previously. She brings up the fact that many celebrities have come forward with their illnesses and express that even famous, seemingly perfect people can have disorders. But
what she fails to do is mention how it is important for us to educate ourselves on mental illnesses and how to deal with people who have them. Not everyone has someone in their family with a diagnosed mental illness, but eventually we all will have to meet people who do.

To learn more about the myths of mental illnesses: http://www.responseability.org/site/index.cfm?display=134566

Personally, I have lived all of my life with a family member who has been diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder. I only learned recently that she has had these illnesses, and when I did, I was utterly surprised. I wasn’t sure how to react or how to act around her. But as Harmon explains, people with mental illnesses are still people. They live normal lives and medication usually helps them. Even though it took me a while for me to realize, I came to accept my family member and love her regardless of her disability.

And to answer Harmon’s question about whether to leave out medication if friends are coming over, I think it is a matter of personal preference and comfort with who they are. Someone who owns up to their illness, is confident in who they are, and accepts how people might react to their illness will answer this question differently than someone who has recently been diagnosed, has an illness with a very negative stigma, or who cares about what their house guests might think. It is a question of personal preference.

But on the other hand, leaving medicine out is not necessarily a safe or smart thing to do in the first place when you have guests over. It is precautious and rational to put away any sort
of medicine. Also, there is such thing as a desire for privacy. “To each his own” is a saying that comes to mind in this situation. You can have high self esteem but still put the medicine away. No one should judge a person for putting away any kind of medicine, whether it is for a mental illness or not. Sometimes people forget that people with mental illnesses did not choose to have these disorders.

The biggest problem I see is a lack of education about mental illnesses. From a teenager’s perspective, I cannot remember learning about them in any specific class. Health class taken
sophomore year might have mentioned a few here or there but not enough to make
an impact. In 2008, a study was conducted that found over 4% of American adults
have a serious mental illness (http://mentalhealth.gov/statistics/SMI_AASR.shtml).
This is a serious issue that schools need to better educate their students about.