The stigma that surrounds mental illness

Mental illness is rife in today’s society, ranging from mild to severe. It affects 1 in 4 people in the course of a year. A partner, a parent, a child, a sibling, a friend, it can affect anybody.
Chances are that you know somebody, or you indeed suffer yourself with a mental disorder.

So the question is, why is there still a social stigma attached to mental illness?

Throughout personal and professional lives people feel ashamed to speak of their specific mental illness through fear that they will be judged, or that they will be viewed by others as being weak or crazy, and the sad truth is that their fears are not unfounded.

Anxiety, panic, bipolar, schizophrenia (to name but a few), are all disorders of the brain, disorders that are not brought about by the people that suffer with them, it is a change in brain chemistry that affects a person’s behaviour. It doesn’t define the whole of a person or change their fundamental characteristics, it is merely something that they have within them and with the correct treatment, all illnesses can be controlled and monitored. Like heart disease or diabetes, which are physical illnesses that can be treated effectively, so can mental illness.

So why is there a huge divide in the perception of conditions within the physical body and the workings of the mind?

Stigma arises through a lack of understanding and education of a particular subject. You wouldn’t look at someone suffering from heart disease with fear and say “he/she is heart disease” so why would you look at someone suffering from schizophrenia and say “he/she is schizophrenic”?

Whether an illness is physical or mental, it does not define a person, they are not the illness that they live with on a daily basis. Unfortunately the way that mental illness is portrayed in the media and in the social climate we live in today has more of a negative and misunderstood viewpoint of what a sufferer actually goes through.

I am happy to share that I personally suffer with anxiety due to monthly hormonal changes within my brain chemistry. In the beginning seven years ago I also suffered with panic attacks and a mild form of agoraphobia which led to me feeling ill, I couldn’t eat much for a month, lost a lot of weight, quit the job I was in, and withdrew socially. I made my family, friends and current work colleagues aware of this and fortunately in my case everyone was very understanding. They saw beyond my brain chemistry and viewed me as a person, saw my skills and gave me the support I needed.

My hope is that one day soon people will see beyond stigma, the media will portray mental illness in the correct way, and that sufferers of mental illness will feel less ostracized by society as a whole.

 

I will continue to explore more into mental health and I only hope I can give support to those that suffer with mental illness and also help family members and friends of sufferers gain more insight and support into a largely misunderstood mental health crisis.

 

All the best

Nic

x