I use to pray she had a disease that was more acceptable. I wished she had a disease that we could all wear pink ribbons for and race for a cure, a disease that a community supported. Mental illness has never had that. A child with bipolar will grow into an adult with bipolar. No races or celebrity visits to the hospital. Instead of people running in hopes of making you better they run away from you fearful that your social stigma might stick to them like a bad smell. Crazy doesn’t rub off.
That powerful quote came from a post written by Valerie Furas, titled I Have a Secret. Her post about the social stigma she and her family endured as a result of her older sister’s Bi-Polar diagnosis really touched me and also inspired me to write about my own thoughts of the social stigma that people with mental health issues face.
I often wonder, in this day and age with so much information at our fingertips, why there is still so much stigma attached to people with mental health issues. My personal opinion is that a lot of it is based on fear. I am sure that some of the fear is based on misinformation and misunderstanding. However, I believe some of it is possibly due to the fact that people may see themselves in someone who has been diagnosed with a mental illness, and it scares them.
So many people lead secret lives, where they hide what they consider frailties. They live in fear that their own mental health issues will be discovered, or that they could get worse. When they encounter someone who has been diagnosed with a mental illness, they are afraid that what is reflected back to them will be noticed by others and their secret will be out. The easiest way for them to hide this, is to treat that other person with disdain and an appearance of not understanding.
I do not know about everyone else, but since I have been in therapy and have changed many things about my thinking, and speaking, sometimes it is easy to identify someone who might have an undiagnosed mental health issue. It shows in their bodies, their speech, tone of voice and various other things. So to me it is conceivable that we could be making people who are leading secret lives feel intimidated and frightened.
The best and possibly only solution that I can think of, is that those of us who have a mental health issue, or who have a family member with one, and are comfortable speaking about it, continue to do so. We can be examples to others that there is nothing to fear by letting the world know. In fact we can show them by how we interact with each other, that there are many people who are willing and able to offer them support and friendship.
The challenge I have made for myself and would like to encourage others to take up, is no matter what disdain or social stigma we may face, to always treat those misguided people with dignity and respect. They very well could be leading a secret life and acting out of fear.
Oddly I haven't really experienced the social stigma of mental illness, or not that I've noticed anyway. I've know that I'm not "normal" since I was very young and have always been open about it because it's just a part of who I am, maybe that's why. Everyone who knows me knows I have mental health problems, I never hide that, if you meet me I'll happily talk about it, I've never really been ashamed. Maybe it's because I'm not afraid of my issues that means other people feel they don't need to be afraid either?
Livi,
The only people I have experienced social stigma from are my in-laws. They treat me as if they are taking great joy in my "fall". They never did like me. I am not anymore intelligent then they are. In fact, I think they are very intelligent. The difference between us is that I have more "education" than they do and have traveled all over the world. Even now I like to learn things. They have always felt that I was a "know it all" and that I thought I was better than they were. Obviously, that is not true since I did marry their son/brother.
Oddly I haven’t really experienced the social stigma of mental illness, or not that I’ve noticed anyway. I’ve know that I’m not “normal” since I was very young and have always been open about it because it’s just a part of who I am, maybe that’s why. Everyone who knows me knows I have mental health problems, I never hide that, if you meet me I’ll happily talk about it, I’ve never really been ashamed. Maybe it’s because I’m not afraid of my issues that means other people feel they don’t need to be afraid either?
Livi,
The only people I have experienced social stigma from are my in-laws. They treat me as if they are taking great joy in my "fall". They never did like me. I am not anymore intelligent then they are. In fact, I think they are very intelligent. The difference between us is that I have more "education" than they do and have traveled all over the world. Even now I like to learn things. They have always felt that I was a "know it all" and that I thought I was better than they were. Obviously, that is not true since I did marry their son/brother.
Great post. That is exactly why I refuse to be quiet about L's illness. It might help just that ONE person that needs the help and has been afraid to seek that help because of the stigma and shame attached to it.
Thanks! You are right, it might help that one person. Also, if we respond with the proper attitude we might actually show and teach them that they have nothing to fear from us.
Great post. That is exactly why I refuse to be quiet about L’s illness. It might help just that ONE person that needs the help and has been afraid to seek that help because of the stigma and shame attached to it.
Thanks! You are right, it might help that one person. Also, if we respond with the proper attitude we might actually show and teach them that they have nothing to fear from us.
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