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Stigma on mental issues essay
Implications of stigma to sufferers of mental health
Implications of stigma to sufferers of mental health
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As the years go by, medical research has increased, and we've learned a lot about mental disorders that we'd originally known nothing about. Unfortunately, this also means that people have been placing others into stereotypical categories that are usually untrue. This is wrong and hurtful, and can sometimes even cause someone’s disorder to become worse. In this paper, I will talk about the symptoms and struggles of Asperger Syndrome, such as social disabilities and uncontrolled emotional outbursts. But I will also focus on how someone with Asperger’s can overcome their difficulties. People with mental disabilities are not incapable of turning their lives around and living productively, and the world needs to become aware of this. With the right treatment, someone with Asperger's can have a normal life. We need to stop prejudging people with AS and realize that they're really just like us. One of the most …show more content…
So the first thing they think about someone with a mental illness is that they're incapable of being a “normal” person. However, I disagree with this mentality, and I believe that we should all treat each other equally and with the respect they deserve. People with AS are just as intelligent as anyone else; they may just have different methods of learning. We need to stop judging people based on things that we've heard about them or assumed about them, just because they have a mental illness. People with AS are just like everyone else, except that the have a little more difficulty communicating with other people. By judging them and leaving them out of things, we could actually worsen their condition and make them lose confidence in themselves. We need to stop stigmatizing people with mental disorders, to stop putting labels like “crazy” and “weird” on them, and instead realize that, where it truly counts, we're all the
The ongoing misperception of the mentally ill/disabled, has led me to research the topic in further depth. Since many people don't come in contact with the mentally ill/disabled, where do they get their beliefs or understandings? The bulk of perceiving the mentally ill/disabled comes through stereotyping, and all the outside influences that generate ones beliefs. Besides the fact that some people are a little slower or have a disability, they live their lives as ordinary people.
First, those who suffer from Asperger’s tend to lack the basic social skills required in everyday life, such as hugging, communicating, or expressing their feelings. For example, in “The Curious Incident” Christopher hits people who touch him in an unwelcome manner. So when his father became angry with him, and he latched onto Christopher’s arm: “I don’t like when people grab me. And I don’t like being surprised either. So I hit
The stigma and negative associations that go with mental illness have been around as long as mental illness itself has been recognized. As society has advanced, little changes have been made to the deep-rooted ideas that go along with psychological disorders. It is clearly seen throughout history that people with mental illness are discriminated against, cast out of society, and deemed “damaged”. They are unable to escape the stigma that goes along with their illness, and are often left to defend themselves in a world that is not accepting of differences in people. Society needs to realize what it is doing, and how it is affecting these people who are affected with mental illness. If we continue to not help them, and to foster their illness, it will only get worse.
In the 1940’s two doctors in different countries observed children displaying similar behaviors and deficits. One of the doctors was Viennese pediatrician Dr. Hans Asperger and the other was a child psychiatrist named Leo Kanner. Dr. Kanner was the first of the two doctors to report his observations. What he described were behaviors similar to those seen in children with what we call Autistic disorder. The behaviors affected the children’s communication, social interaction and interests. Dr. Asperger later published an article discussing what he dubbed “Autistische Psychpathen im Kindesalter” which translates to “Autistic Psychopathy”. Although some behaviors overlapped, there were differences leading to the belief that these doctors were documenting two different disorders. The two most prevalent were the differences in motor and language abilities (Miller, Ozonoff). Another was Asperger’s belief that his patients were of normal or above average intelligence. It was not until 1994 that Asperger Syndrome was entered into the Diagnostics and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition (DSM IV), finally becoming an official diagnosis. At the time, Asperger Syndrome (AS) was labeled as a subcategory of autism along with autistic disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder and pervasive development disorder. Since then, the community of people with Asperger Syndrome has grown to love and better understand the disorder that they live with every day. Some of them have even affectionately named themselves “Aspies”.
...at comes naturally to most people: listening to others, looking them in the eye, and trying to understand another's point of view. Dr. Attwood believes, "Children with Asperger's Syndrome have the strong desire to have friends while recognizing their considerable difficulties with achieving and maintaining genuine friendships. Many experience ridicule, exclusion, teasing or bullying. Education programs can be used to assist them."
In 1944, Asperger’s disorder was first discovered by Hans Asperger who was a child psychologist and pediatrician who described a group of boys between the ages of 6 and 11 as “little professors” because of their interests and use of language (van Duin, Zinkstok, McAlonan & van Amelsvoort, 2014). In the DSM-IV, Asperger’s disorder (AD) refers to individuals who have an average or high IQ, but have difficulty in social interactions, poor communication skills and restricted interests (Wing, Gould & Gillberg, 2010). Another component in the Asperger’s diagnosis in the DSM-IV was that the individual did not meet the full criteria for an Autism diagnosis (Ghaziuddin, 2010). On May 13, 2013 the DSM-V was published, which was followed by extensive controversy surrounding the removal of the Asperger’s diagnosis. Some individuals diagnosed with AD under the DSM-IV prefer that label to being diagnosed as autistic. Additionally, many individuals with AD and their families feared that services would no longer be available to their children. Proponents of removing AD from the DSM-V asserted that there was no reliable difference between AD and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and that combining these disorders would increase reliability and validity.
For all teens, the transition into adulthood is generally seen as a challenging and scary process. For teens diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as well as their caregivers, this transition is often more complicated. The period of transition for individuals with ASD into adulthood is intensely more challenging due to their “unique characteristics, the lack of services that address the special needs of such individuals in adulthood, and the expectations of society for a typical path to adulthood in the face of atypical problems” (Geller and Greenberg, 2009, pg. 93). Without the necessary resources to transition, teens with ASD find themselves unprepared for life at work, in college, or community living. Through this paper, the reader will obtain knowledge in regards to what ASD is, the barriers it yields concerning the transition into adulthood, and the effects it has on the individual as well
Stereotypes and stigmas promote a dangerous, single-minded perspective. These incomplete or half-truths are often far more duplicitous than lies, as they are more difficult to detect. When these perspectives remain unchecked, they can result in far-reaching, adverse consequences. It is the individual’s duty to refuse to perpetuate this single story perspective. Due to misinformation presented by the media, the stigma surrounding mental illness has created a discriminatory single story perspective; however, through honest and open dialogue, particularly with those suffering from these diseases, these stereotypes can be abolished.
Special education is evolving, evolving in form and substance. Education of the special needs population in the United States lacks uniformity of purpose and deed. In many school districts within the United States, special education creates a financial burden that subjugates the traditional programs (Higbee, Katz, & Shultz, 2010). The lack of consistency to approach and positive results has created academic chaos for methods and strategies in working with the special needs population. The difficulty in educating special needs children to develop their academic and social skills has created many strategies for supposed benefit, and in fairness, some work for some children. Too many instances exist where not all children benefit (p. 8). The problem is developing a strategy and curriculum that provides for the needs of all children whether they are involved in an inclusive, mainstreaming, or self-contained classroom. This is particularly significant with a particular segment of the special needs population, Asperger’s autism. Asperger’s autism is a controversial diagnosis, a diagnosis that creates a schism of psychiatric thought. Some psychiatrists classify this as a pervasive developmental disorder, while other psychiatrists see this as a form of personality disorder that has many traits associated with schizophrenia (Odom, Buysee, & Soukakou, 2011). The Asperger’s child lacks emotional development normally associated with their age group. An example that illustrates the emotional development issue concerns age appropriate demonstrations of concern or awareness in their environment. Many of the Asperger’s children are not able to tell whether someone is making fun of them and will join in making fun of themselves as unsuspecting ...
Many people across the world are unfamiliar with disorders associated with autism. Some people do not even know what autism actually is. Asperger’s Syndrome is one perplexing disorder, of countless, that needs to be acknowledged. Although it is one of the more well-known disorders, an understanding of Asperger’s is far from common knowledge. There is an abundance of misconceptions and people unaware of what Asperger Syndrome actually is. Being uncertain about the characteristics of a person with Asperger’s allows people to go through life not understanding the disorder itself and people who have it.
This paper was reprinted with permission of Susan Moreno on the O.A.S.I.S. (Online Asperger's Syndrome Information and Support)
For a very long time, mental health was a disease people would not dare speak about. The stigma associated with mental health meant that it was viewed as a curse or simply poor upbringing. Crazy, right? (Pardon the pun). Although it’s not seen as a curse by us in this generation any more, many people with mental health issues still have to face ignorance, prejudice and discrimination from our society just because of their lack of understanding or reluctance to try and understand. Be that as it may, these attitudes directly impact upon how and if people choose to seek help, making the negative and ignorant opinions and attitudes of others potentially dangerous to many individuals and the people around them.
Why is there a cloud of judgment and misunderstanding still surrounding the subject? People with a mental disorder or with a history of mental health issues are continually ostracized by society. This results in it being more difficult than it already is for the mentally ill to admit their symptoms to others and to seek treatment. To towards understanding mental illness is to finally lift the stigma, and to finally let sufferers feel safe and accepted within today’s society. There are many ways in which the mentally ill are degraded and shamed.
...ads to suicide which is not any better than being mentally ill. As knowing a person with this type of disorder, She is more harmful to herself rather than others. So, why do we as people that are not around people with this disorder think that people with this disorder are so criminally impaired? For starters, the way the world sees people is if you have a mental illness everything that was done wrong is all that persons fault when really. . They didn’t do anything, but to themselves .When people cause crimes, something has to be right in their head to know what they are doing. Most of our crimes committed today are by people that are not even from our country. Take 9/11 for example. This was an impactful thing that affected most if not all of the United States. When Bin Laden sent his people to come crashing into our twin towers where MANY people worked.
People with a mental illness are often feared and rejected by society. This occurs because of the stigma of mental illness. The stigma of mental illness causes the perception of individuals with mental illnesses to be viewed as being dangerous and insane. They are viewed and treated in a negative way. They are almost seen as being less of a human. The stigma affects the individual with a mental illness in such a cruel way. The individual cannot even seek help without the fear of being stigmatized by their loved ones or the general public. The stigma even leads to some individuals developing self-stigma. This means having a negative perception of one’s self, such as viewing one’s self as being dangerous. The worst part is that the effects of