What if you were having an asthma attack? Or you had the flu? Now what if the response to those situations was this:
If you just change your frame of mind, you’ll feel better.
Maybe if you tried a little harder, you wouldn’t have asthma.
These responses seem not only unsympathetic and insensitive, but socially out of touch. Yet because mental illness is so misunderstood, this is the type of “helpful advice” that people diagnosed with depression, anxiety disorders and other mental illnesses confront on a daily basis. Many people do not understand that having a mental illness is not in a person’s control—just like getting food poisoning or having the flu is not in their control.
Trying to reframe the conversation, artist Robot Hugs created a comic that shows what it would be like if we discussed physical illnesses the same way we do mental illnesses.
For every four people with a mental illness, three say they’ve experienced the stigma that is so often associated with having a mental illness. When a person is labelled by their illness they are seen as part of a stereotyped group and not as an individual. These negative attitudes create prejudice which leads to negative actions and discrimination. These types of discrimination can be direct and obvious—like a rude remark about your mental illness or treatment. Or in most cases it may be unintentional or subtle, such as someone avoiding you because they assume you might be unstable.
The thing with others’ judgments is that it almost always stems from a lack of understanding rather than an informed mind. And therein, lies the problem. Why are we so uninformed? Yes, things have been improving with more widespread information and better available resources, but this suffocating stigma is still so present. And it prevents people from going out and seeking the help they need. Here are a few misconceptions that I'd like to mention:
Mental illnesses are rare and don’t really happen that often.
The truth is that as many as 42.5 million American adults (or 18.2 percent of the total adult population in the United States) suffers from some mental illness. Your car full of five people? Statistically you might be sitting next to someone dealing with a mental illness...it happens more than you think.
Having a mental illness is in your control.
Please refer to comic above.
Individuals with mental health problems typically exhibit violent and out-of-control behavior.
This is usually associated with diagnosed disorders such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. While it is true that some mentally ill people demonstrate those tendencies, the truth is that individuals with mental illness are more dangerous to themselves than they are to others. This brings up a good point how stigma really hinders individuals dealing with a mental illness. In a time when you most likely need people around to love and support you, instead, you are left isolated and alone.
Television and media correctly portrays mental illness.
As with most stigmas, television and media are big contributors to the damaging depiction of mental illness. Whether it’s a graphic depiction or an insinuating remark, the media often paints a grim and inaccurate picture. And these pictures have a big influence on the public.
These are just a few out of many misunderstandings about having a mental illness. So I encourage you to actively put in the effort to truly understand. By learning more information and building our knowledge on this topic, we build acceptance and sympathy. And ultimately, we build a better world. Someone suffering from a mental illness doesn't need to change their frame of mind, we need to change our frame of mind on mental illness.
Learn more information at the National Alliance on Mental Illness
Need help? Call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
