Essay On Mental Disorders

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“The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about” (Hourani 142). A mental disorder is an illness that is experienced by an undeniably large amount of people, and despite this it is still met with discrimination. People perceive mental illness to be less severe and important than physical illness, but by bringing attention to the stigma, people will be aware of the disease. However, what is most surprising is the fact that people’s negative outlook is based on a misconception and misunderstanding about mental disorders as opposed to its reality. This is a pertinent concern in our society because of the way this prejudice affects the mentally ill. Not only are they faced with feelings of insecurity about who they are, but they also are subject to be treated as less than equals, and are seen as outcasts. As any logical person would conclude, this does in no way help the person going down the path of recovery. When what they would need is understanding and acceptance by their surroundings, they are faced instead with distrust and fear by others. There are many matters that are being debated and argued about that are less pressing than erasing the stigma. People are affected with mental disorders daily and it does not only have an impact on the person but as well as on society’s progress; its mentality and its development. In order for people with mental illness to be helped, society needs to identify the stigmas of mental illness, confront the discrimination involved with mental illness, and then try to understand how the causes and effects of these stigmas affects the individual and society. Society portrays people with mental disorders, and the illness itself in a different way than its t... ... middle of paper ... ... When someone hears someone stereotyping mentally ill people, they should speak up tell them off. Stopping stereotyping is the hardest part but nonetheless essential to erasing the stigma. The media and the news however are those who greatly influence people and are the ones that need to speak up. Accurate representations of mentally ill people should be displayed, and more positive stories involving recovery in order to provide society with a new and inspiring perception. In 2010 the Mental Health Commission of Canada started a 10 year long project to stop the stigma associated with mental health. They started with teenagers from age 12 to 18 as they are the upcoming generation and need to be informed of the discrimination. Next they moved to mental health workers because according to mentally ill people, it is at work where they are faced with stigma the most.

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