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Summary of thoughts on stigma of mental health
Summary of thoughts on stigma of mental health
Summary of thoughts on stigma of mental health
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For many years, mental illness has been one of the most stigmatized medical issues. Stigma is when society places a marker of disgrace that is associated with a particular circumstance or quality you have. The stigma surrounding mental illness is mainly because it does not have much credibility since it is something that is not physically seen. People assume that because they cannot see it or fully explain it that it is not real and that is when stigma is created. It then becomes more stigmatized when it intersects with a group that is already being put down by society; black women. In society, black women are already constantly being stigmatized, and by adding on mental illness that stigma becomes worse. Although black women have higher rates of being mentally ill, there is still not as much attention being brought to it because of the low representation. The stereotype of having to be a “strong Black women” has made black women less likely to seek medical help for their mental illnesses. Black women have it implanted in their minds that they have to be strong in the face of adversity and that seeking help would be a sign of weakness. In this paper, I will analyze the stigma around mental illness and how the power of words and labels help …show more content…
slavery, each plantation had Mammy: The black woman convinced that everyone else’s well-being mattered more than hers...A tired life of failing to practice self-care causes her to become numb to her own desires.” One can see that Black women had always thought that their mental health was less important than their other responsibilities. This then becomes a problem because it is not about black women being afraid to speak up, but being afraid of the stigma that comes along with speaking up. This is important to note because now they are putting their mental health at risk and potentially making their mental illness
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.
However, the hardships and misfortunes of other groups of women due to race, religion, sexual orientation, etc are not often mentioned because feminism has a widespread message and definition worldwide. In the United States, black women or any women with darker skin complexions were treated inhumanely and did not, also still today did not benefit from white privilege. As explained, referring back to the era of slavery up until the American Revolution black enslaved women were mistreated due to the color of their skin and they were without a voice because of their lack of power in a society where man had more power over women and blacks were overpowered by those with lighter skin. Overall, it is important to note and realize that all women were subjected to unequal treatment due to many variables, but some women more than others because of certain variables as
The Modified Labelling Theory, created by Link et al., (1989) hypothesized that individuals who were labeled as mentally ill, would manage the stigma they faced through three coping mechanisms; education, withdrawal and secrecy (as cited in Ray & Brooks Dollar, 2014). The Modified Labelling Theory is a credible theory that has been used to approach not only the repercussions of stigma in mental illness, but also to explain behaviours of those who smoke, live with HIV/AIDS, or have a child with a disability (Ray & Brooks Dollar,
The African American community is suffering with the issue of inadequate mental health care for many decades. There is a deep lack of understanding about what mental illness is and there are many barriers that hinder African Americans from receiving the care that they need. People are unaware of the effects of mental illness, and what mental illness can encompass. “Most importantly, mental health includes people’s feelings of worth in the context of the total cultural and societal system as well as within the identifiable groups to which they belong.” (Snowden, 165) The experience you receive as a race and how you perceive your race is apart of mental illness. Many African American people look down upon their race due to socioeconomic hierarchy that society has given people. African American’s are at high risk to developing mental illness. Healthcare providers have misdiagnosed many African Americans due to lack of knowledge. “African Americans in ...
During slavery, African American women were the ones that stayed home all day and cooked and cleaned for their families. These women were always told to just keep quiet and believe in God or their religious belief through everything they were going through. African American women didn’t have a voice in society so they couldn’t express their feelings like others could. This cultural aspect of African American women, just going through life and not being able to express themselves has contributed to many of the ladies suffering from depression. Depression amongst African women is very high because of past cultural experiences. African American women are one of the major groups of people that have sacristy of resources. Many times when African American women go to their doctors the doctors tend to diagnose them incorrectly or some time even give them the wrong treatment (Carrington, C. H. ,2006). African American when were always made to just deal with the problem that they were going through at the time not matter the mood they were in (Carrington, C. H.
Thoit, Link, Bruce G., and Jo C. Phelan. "Labeling and Stigma." Handbook of the sociology of mental health. Springer Netherlands, 2013. 525-541.
I understand as a black woman, I have to try much harder than my peers just so i will not be overlooked . I personally do things, so people do not think me in a way of stereotypes of black woman that shown in the media. Like I try not to get angry or express too much feeling too much in front of people that is not African American because I do not want to be known as an angry problematic black woman that loud and ghetto. Often time I feel as I do not have a voice in the public and I must be mute or I’m going to be labeled something I’m not. Many black women feel like their voices aren’t heard. I’m starting to believe that this “angry black woman “is a racial stereotype is that being used to try to control black women's voices in the public.
Internal barriers include: stigmatized and misapprehended cultural beliefs, myths, and attitudes. African Americans are not aware of how serious the issue is and accordingly are not properly educated on topic. Passed experiences regarding misdiagnoses and deficient treatment has made the topic of mental health almost an afterthought. Another issues lies within the underrepresentation of African Americans working as psychiatrists, psychologist, and social workers. The need for more black representatives is high. External barriers include: economic and availability concerns. A lot of African Americans don’t have access to facilities providing mental health treatment, nor do they have health
Social stigma is the extreme disapproval person or group based on social characteristics. Mental illness stigma generally is a pervasive and widespread problem that has been documented throughout the United States and abroad (e.g., Angermeyer & Dietrich, 2006; Corrigan & Watson, 2002), identification of effective methods for reducing stigma among college students is especially needed and important. Although research consistently has found that factors like less personal contact and less familiarity with mental illness contribute to higher levels of stigma (Penn, Kommana, Mansfield, & Link, 1999; Penn et al., 1994; Phelan & Link, 2004). Mental Health and Stigma corresponds within Black women. Approximately
African-Americans make up approximately 13% of the United States population according to U.S. Census (2001). However, despite representing 13% of the population there is misrepresentation in mental health services for African-American people. We know that research has shown many different indications to explain the lack of representation. Poverty is one of the many explanations given, U.S. census data for the 13.1% of the U.S. population identifying themselves as African American, the poverty rate in 2012 was 27.2%. This poverty rate compares with a 9.7% poverty rate for non-Hispanic Whites (Snowden, 2014). Another study explain treatment differences between African-Americans and European American, according to Schwartz & Feisthamel (2009)
Hinshaw, Stephen P. The Mark of Shame: Stigma of Mental Illness And An Agenda For
The stigma is created by the lack of knowledge, narrow-minded attitudes, and the acts of judgment against people who have a mental illness. The stigma results in extensive consequences for the individuals being affected. The stigma ends up becoming worse than the mental illness itself because it prevents individuals from seeking help during the early stages of the mental illness. There is even a vast availability of mental-health treatments that are effective, yet the majority of people experiencing problems related to mental-health does not seek help. 28% of the adult population of the United States have a diagnosable mental condition and only 8% seek treatment. These statistics help prove that stigma is one of the main reasons for individuals not willing to seek help. The individual fears being stigmatized. They fear being rejected by their loved ones and the general public. They do not want to be devalued. The way that individuals with mental illnesses are called “the mentally ill” in the media just makes the stigma even worse. This makes the person feel defined solely by their disability, which is inhumane. The person begins to feel less of a human being. In the media, they are viewed as being dangerous and violent, which results with inhumanity towards the individual. This just increases the negative stereotypes towards individuals with a mental
Women of color. It’s time to get serious about our mental health. And it seems that many of us are on the same page regarding taking care of our mental wellness. Recently, Therapy for Black Girls, has been applauded for its candid conversations about mental health awareness and therapy for women of color.
When it comes to getting a diagnosis and visiting their local GP, black people are less likely to be referred for mental health problems. This could be due to institutional racism, in the fact that doctors are unconsciously discriminating black people and not giving them the correct help unlike white people. Black people have been more likely to be referred to a mental health service through passers-by.
Mass media “references to people with mental health problems found more than four in ten articles in the press used derogatory terms about mental health and nearly half of press coverage related mental illness to violence and crime” (Esseler, 244). This is causing for people to look down upon the mention of mental illnesses and many times ignore the importance of confronting this issue. Therefore the importance of removing this stigmatization is crucial. Education allows to make more informed decisions and then changing the perception of mental illness can lead towards policy changes toward the improvement of mental health (Sakellari,