Mental Illness Model

The term mental illness refers to a number of psychological conditions that can affect a person’s temperament, cognitions and behaviors. Some examples of mental illness consist of major depression, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, addictive behaviors, and disordered eating (Mayo Clinic, 2014). People with mental illness living in a society that often harshly generalizes psychological inequities may simply agree with the common stereotype that associates, and suffer from lower self-worth and productivity because of it (Corrigan & Watson, 2002). Although mental illness is not the only illness that faces stigmatization in our culture, society seems to condemn people with psychiatric incapacities more than people with other conditions, such as

A model was created that suggests factors possibly foreseeing the extent to which mentally ill persons agree with stigma, apply said stereotypes to themselves and experience lowered self-worth and efficiency or alternatively, feel empowered. (Watson, Corrigan, Larson, & Sells, 2007). Seventy-one individuals who were part of the outpatient program a community hospital in Chicago met criteria and were chosen for research. The Self-Stigma of Mental Illness (SSMI) Scale was used in this study and filled out by the research participants. This scale contains 40 items, 10 items representative of the 4 constructs outlined in a self-stigma model: stereotype self-concurrence, stereotype agreement, self-esteem decrement and stereotype awareness (Watson et al, 2007). Limitations to these studies are that they assume that before clinically being diagnosed as “mentally ill”, people already have accepted society’s negative stereotypes. This perspective also assumes that these people close themselves off, anticipating rejection, often leading to loneliness, unemployment, and lower income (Watson et al, 2007). This internalization of stigma and lowering self-worth are not inevitable though. Some people affected by mental illness react to the stigma through energization and empowerment, while other people remain quite neutral and unaffected (Watson et al,