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Victoria Riley
Mrs. DeBock
English 4 Honors
March 18, 2015
Mental Health Stigma
Nearly half of American adults are likely to experience a mental disorder during their
lifetime. In many cases, however, mental illnesses are looked down upon, if not shunned. Society
has created barriers for numerous individuals that force people with mental illnesses to be
ashamed of who they are and what they can not control. Stereotypes of people with mental
disorders have been embedded into society today, creating nurses and doctors that discriminate
against their patients. In institutions and society, the negative stigma toward mental illnesses
affects peoples choice of seeking help, the quality of treatment they receive, their everyday
lives, and the stigma needs to be reduced.
Judgement should not be a concern when seeking help from professionals for a mental
illness. However, increasing numbers of individuals needing treatment, do not receive it. Stigma
plays a crucial role in accessing treatment, continuing treatment, and being compliant. Patients
who are aware or afraid of stigma and its existence among health care providers, delay seeking
treatment and continuing treatment. A lack of representation could influence a persons choice to
get treatment, having no health professionals of color and no prior experience of racism are
factors that halt minorities from seeking treatment (Sickel). When patients do not receive
treatment, it leads to an increase in suicide attempts, negative self-esteem, and violence, which
further isolates the patient. However, the significance of mental health treatment barriers depend

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upon the severity of the illness. Numerous barriers to mental health treatment exist, yet mental
health stigma remains a salient factor influencing mental health treatment.
Many mental health care providers have negative stigmas toward their patients. Several
researchers have shown that mental health practitioners stigmatized individuals with mental
illness (Sickel). Nurses, nursing students, medical doctors, and medical and pharmacy students
have also been shown to endorse stigmatizing attitudes and beliefs. Across the healthcare system,
labels have been applied to some patients such as attention seeker, bed blocker and time
waster (King). When the providers have a stigma against their patients, it creates a negative
environment and reverse effects of what the counseling is suppose to achieve. Recovery should
be the key part of helping the patient, and they should know that recovery is both real and
probable. Programs that emphasized recovery performed significantly better than those that did
not (Knaak). When the provider is pessimist toward the patient, it makes recovery unlikely and
treatment ineffective (King). In fact, nurses scored the lowest for empathy; the absence of
empathy in nursing care raises the concern that many clinicians retreat emotionally from the
service users they are working with.
The lives of mentally ill people are greatly and widely influenced by their illness, and not
by their character. Three out of four people with mental illnesses report being discriminated
against. This discrimination can have a massive impact on basic needs, such as employment,
housing, self-perception, and relationships. People with mental illnesses are more likely to be
underemployed than those without an illness. 29% of individuals with severe mental illnesses
reported discrimination both while attempting to obtain or maintain employment (Sickel).
People with severe mental illnesses earn approximately one third less per year than non-mentally
ill individuals (Sickel). Those with serious mental illnesses were not only less likely to work than

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those without an illness, but also earned less if they did. The lack of employment often affects an
individuals insurance status and ability to afford adequate treatment. Reports show numerous
incidents of discrimination regarding housing; about 32.2% of mentally ill people experience
housing-related discrimination (Sickel). Discrimination is not the only downside to being
mentally ill. People with mental illnesses tend to live short lives; often experiencing
disproportionately higher mortality rates than those without mental illness (Sickel). This could
also explain why some individuals do not want to seek treatment, they do not want to accept that
something is wrong.
Many people believe people with mental disorders are dangerous, unpredictable, weak, or
unable to live independently and make life decisions. While that is untrue, reducing the stigma
associated with mental illnesses is crucial to helping any patient or person. Solving the stigma
crisis has various approaches such as education about mental disorders, providing the
perspectives of people with mental disorders, and contacting people with mental disorders to
overcome concerns due to unfamiliarity (Gee and McGarthy). Positive contact with a person
with a mental disorder makes the biggest positive effect on the stigma. Several organizations are
working to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, but getting to the root of the
problem is difficult. The prejudice could be present because of many complex factors, such as
personal experience, rumors, family, and friends that could be spreading the wrong ideas of
mental illnesses.
The stigma of mental illnesses, in institutions and society, affects peoples choice of
seeking help, the quality of treatment they receive, their everyday lives, and the need to be
reduced. Many individuals with mental illness have their whole lives influenced by something
they can not control. Every aspect of their life is affected by the illness, and when the ones who

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are meant to support the patient fail to provide a healthy environment, the patient is doomed to
suffer. Mental health disorders are expected to increase by 2020, disabling more people than
AIDS, heart disease, traffic accidents, and wars combined (Sickel). The decrease of mental
health stigma is necessary and crucial to helping patients recover and live life to the fullest.

Works Cited

Gee, Alison and McGarty, Craig. "Developing Cooperative Communities To Reduce Stigma
About Mental Disorders."Analyses Of Social Issues & Public Policy 13.1 (2013): 137164. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.

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King, Gemma. "Staff Attitudes Towards People With Borderline Personality Disorder." Mental
Health Practice 17.5 (2014): 30. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.
Knaak, Stephanie. "Key Ingredients Of Anti-Stigma Programs For Health Care Providers: A Data
Synthesis Of Evaluative Studies." Canadian Journal Of Psychiatry 59.10 (2014): S19S26.Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
Sickel, Amy E, Nina A Nabors, and Jason D Seacat. "Mental Health Stigma Update: A Review
Of Consequences." Advances In Mental Health 12.3 (2014): 202. Advanced Placement
Source. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.