Mental Health Misconceptions Essay

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Among a number of social groups and cultures in today’s world there still exists an influential amount of misguided ideas relating to most any existing mental illness; such thoughts are often present most anywhere in the world, whether they’re in relation to some long-lasting forms of depression, psychosis, personality disorders, etc. With these misconceptions come many stigmas which are, perhaps, negative in even more ways than one might think to consider upon their first true appraisal of the subject. It is of extreme importance to at least recognize the stigmas in society that relate to mental illness for a multitude of reasons, one of which includes the vast amount of persons who really do suffer or have suffered from a mental illness at …show more content…

Some people may, for example, think that having a mental illness is the fault of whoever has it - in relation to both their own personal weaknesses and deficits in personality. However, it can be said with much certainty that both of these beliefs have no scientific basis whatsoever. The actuality of things isn’t quite so simple, but it is at least known to some …show more content…

Sadie F. Dingfelder supports such a statement with great strength in her cover story on stigmatization related to mental illness. “Despite decades of public information campaigns costing tens of millions of dollars, Americans may be as suspicious of people with mental illness as ever. New research by Pescosolido, published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior (Vol. 41, No. 2), finds that 68 percent of Americans do not want someone with a mental illness marrying into their family and 58 percent do not want people with mental illness in their workplaces.” (Dingfelder, par.

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