You Can Fight the Mental Health Stigma!
With the growing rate of mental disorders in the world, it has come to be essential to bridge the difference between physical and mental health problems by knowing the risk factors and consequences of mental disorders. It is time that people join each other to dissipate the stigma linked to mental problems.
Effective ways of fighting mental health stigma
When such wrong beliefs intensify stigmatizing attitudes, regardless of the type, they considerably affect the social and emotional life of individuals suffering from mental illnesses. Therefore, it is essential to fight mental stigma, and here are a few ways that can help you change your outlook.
Abstain from making it a taboo:
Talking willingly about mental health issues creates a platform where people can fairly discuss their fights with mental disorders. This provides a chance to convey to those suffering quietly that they are not unaccompanied and that help is accessible.
Stay conversant and spread awareness:
When a person misrepresents mental disorders, most people favor looking the other way or residing silent. However, to lessen the brunt of the stigma, it is essential to express how such beliefs affect an individual and the requisite to spread awareness.
Stop using stigmatizing language:
The human language is recurrently changing and evolving and so have the uses of words, such as “mental,” “nuts,” and “insane” when stated to someone with a mental illness. Unfortunately, depicting mental illnesses through adjectives labels the person and does no good in refining the situation.
Treat mental and physical disorders equally:
Just like physical disorders, mental disorders are brain disorders that can grow in anybody. The need of the time is to treat mental illnesses like other chronic disorders, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, etc., to ensure effective management.
Choose not to be a victim:
Stigmatization leads to oppression and discrimination among people with mental disorders. However, it is also likely to lead a life different from the dissolute view of mental disorders by simply idolizing one’s choice to lead a fruitful life by seeking treatment.
Need to alert media:
The picture of mental health problems by the media has been like a double-edged sword. Many times, they’ve assisted spread public alertness about mental health, yet at times they’ve also incorrectly portrayed mental illnesses. Therefore, it is important to ask media platforms about the wrong effects of using stigmatizing language as both their media reporting and the consequences of wrongfully speaking about mental health problems are far-reaching.
Talk about treatment and recovery:
People who have recovered via medical interventions have the opportunity to spread awareness among others. So that the misconception about the treatment of mental health disorders may be diminished from an already disappointed individual. It signifies his or her courage and determination to get better.
Fight mental health stigma
Mental health stigma can disturb various phases of one’s life. At its worst, it can lead to self-blame wherein the person criticizes himself or herself for the condition. In such conditions, stigmatization becomes a dynamic ongoing risk factor for the illness that stops an individual from seeking the necessary help from others.