Stigma attached to mental illness

The stigma attached to mental illness is pervasive and affects the lives of people with mental illness. It makes the patient reluctant to come forward and ask for help. It makes rehabilitation after an episode of illness difficult. It contributes to the loss of self-esteem of the person who has the illness, a consequence that is particularly nefarious because it often blocks full recovery. Stigma also affects the members of the family, making them reluctant to admit that one of them has a mental illness and may need treatment, ft demeans institutions in which treatment is provided as well... 

As nylon and the plastics revolution became a part of modern life, the figure of Carothers receded tragically into the shadows. The horror of his death, the social stigma attached to mental illness and suicide, and prevailing social codes that discouraged the discussion of personal tragedies contributed to an atmosphere of secrecy that surrounded his life. As late as 1979, the Encyclopaedia Britannica credited Father Nieuwland with the discovery of Neoprene. 

Clients and their family members are faced daily with the stigma attached to mental illness. Many people view the mentaUy ill, especially people with schizophrenia, as dangerous. The use of words like maniac, schizo, and psycho by uninformed media enforces this viewpoint. The media often present the mentally ill as dangerous individuals just waiting for the opportunity to explode, when in reality people who do not have such illnesses commit 95% of all homicides. Those with schizophrenia are more likely to harm themselves than someone else (Ferriman, 2(KX)). This tendency to harm oneself often rests with the guilt that many clients feel as they blame themselves for their illness. 

The instruction to let go of the shame attached to mental illness can be exceedingly hard to follow. Cultural attitudes are changing, but not nearly fast enough to insulate most sufferers from the stigma that multiplies the pain of mental illness. As the stories in this book have shown, most interviewees were extremely cautious in revealing their problems. At the same time, many of them successfully shed the self-blame that typically accompanies emotional illness. They speak best for themselves ... 

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