Stigma And Mental Health Essay

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Scientific literature shows that stigma can prevent individuals with a mental illness from having a fulfilling life. In this context, stigma is a general term constituted of intertwined notions such as public stigma and self-stigma. Public stigma is characterised by discriminating behaviour and the set of negative beliefs and attitudes that the society holds about mentally ill patients (Munoz et al., 2003). In contrast, self-stigma indicates that mental health sufferers accept and adopt the common prejudices about the mental disease, turn them against themselves and lose self-esteem (Link, Cullen, Struening & Shrout, 1989). Individuals affected with a psychological disease need to face a double problem. Not only they need to struggle with the symptoms of the illness itself but also with the stigma, making it difficult for persons with a psychological distress to benefit an efficient treatment and recovery (Perlick, Rosenheck, Clarkin, Sirey et al., 2001). It seems obvious that stigma prevails as a detrimental phenomenon in the everyday life of persons diagnosed with a mental disorder (Link, Yang, Phelan, & Collins, 2004) and researchers are trying to find solutions to diminish the …show more content…

Familiarity has been recognised as experience and knowledge of mental disease. It varies from an individual seeing portrayals of mental illness in the media, to a person having a co-worker or a friend with a psychological disorder, to an individual having a family with a mental distress and a person having a mental health problem him or herself (Corrigan, Edwards, Green, Diwan, Penn (2001). Based on Allport’s contact hypothesis (1954) interaction and interpersonal contact with mentally ill individuals can lead to changes in attitudes and stigma connected with such

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