Understanding Stigma and Mental Illness in Society

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Recommended: Reverse the stigma around having a mental illness introduction paragraph

What is a stigma of mental illnesses and why does it exist in our society? A stigma of mental illnesses is described as discrimination against people with mental health problems. A stigma is what sets a person apart from everybody else. It creates negative feelings and stereotypes about a mental illness that leads to being prejudice. Mental illnesses are common today and the stigmas that follow behind it. Stigmas can be created anybody including families, friends, co-workers, or even someone you don 't know. A stigma that is created usually sets a person apart from everybody else such as sexual orientation, gender or physical disabilities. A person with a mental illness is frequently labeled as a stereotype which can create negative attitudes. …show more content…

Society itself seems to be the underlying cause of stigmas; meaning throughout history it has been practiced in every culture, and groups of people. The reason stigmatism exists in society is still vague. In today 's society people 's specific beliefs and views which could be a contributing factor to the underlying causes of stigmas. Since there are so many people who have specific views or beliefs, it is bound for someone to discriminate against someone who doesn 't see eye to eye. Society individualizes people who are different. These people who show stigmatism often have one characteristic: fear, authoritarianism, or benevolence. There are people who fear the mentally ill. They believe that the mentally ill are dangerous and think it 's best to stay away from them. Authoritarianism people believe that the mentally ill are irresponsible and their decisions should be made by others. Although that is far from the case, research shows that people who show stigmatism often. Benevolence people believe that people with mental illnesses are childlike and must be watched and cared for. These three characteristics are the mail prejudicial reactions in society. So how can we reduce stigmatism? There are three strategies is reducing stigma. These methods are: education, and contact. Education can be an effective strategy and change the attitudes of the social media. Education can be in the form of

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