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WHAT IS STIGMA?
WHAT IS DISCRIMINATION?
Stigma is thought to be one of the biggest barriers a person goes through when they speak about their mental illness and is thought to be worse to deal with then the actual illness itself. Stigma is a negative idea people portray towards something they do not understand and become fearful of. ​
When someone goes through the stigma that comes with their mental illness, they feel as if no one will be there to help them through this time. Media is a big influence in keeping this stigma going and gives someone with mental illness a more difficult time. A role will be depicted in a show that portrays a mental illness and this role will consist of violence causing people to believe this truly occurs in reality. Also, news reporters always show the stories where a negative event happened and is 'tied' to someone who has a mental illness and they will state that this person is harmful and people should be aware of others with mental illness. These stories will be headliners, but when someone with a mental illness does a good thing, it is often push to the side and ignored.
Because of the stigma, people will not take the time and effort to be educated about mental illness and find that stigma is the 'easier' approach in understanding mental illness.
Canadian Mental Health Association (2013); Mental Health Commission of Canada (2013); Overton and Medina (2008).
With stigma there is discrimination. Discrimination is a negative behaviour based on how a person appears; this can include the colour of their skin, where they are from, the family they belong in, where they were born, where they have lived, their gender, their sexual preference, age and so on. Discrimination is built upon the stigma and is how we act because of the stigma. Discrimination is mostly seen as an emotion, such as fear and is reacted almost immediately when confronted with the stigma, such as backing away from a person. An example of discrimination would be the fear someone has when they interact with a person who has mental illness. They would immediately walk away to keep themselves safe and start the judgment process that follows after this interact. Discrimination is very imbedded into a person and when they interact with someone that has a mental illness, that person tends to act consciously and unconsciously around someone with mental illness and tends to react with a behavioural response. People will discriminate by avoiding someone with mental illness and have no social contact, which is another reason why many people will not talk about their mental illness with others in order to still be socially interactive with others.
Canadian Mental Health Association (2013); Mental Health Commission of Canada (2013); Overton and Medina (2008).
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