Blogpost 5: Stigma and Discrimination

Back in high school I remember this one schoolmate of mine; he is my year actually. People used to avoid him because of his unusualness: he was often seen talking to himself or talking the plants or he would run across our hallway and shout random things, and if you are wondering, yes he was diagnosed with a mental disorder which I have forgotten the name of the illness. Okay so despite all his weird behavior he ranked first on our entrance examination and on the top of the class (in the elite section). But I cannot deny that I used to avoid him too, because I was afraid of him and I always thought that I could not keep up with his behavior. So one day, he was in my class (elective class) and sat beside, what I was not expecting that he would talk to me. And you know what I had enjoyed talking to him; learning how he perceives life. I suddenly realized the stigma and discrimination the people with illness have faced.

I tried to research more about this stigma in mental illness and saw an article “Understanding the impact of stigma on people with mental illness” in ncbi.nlm.nih.gov which was written by Patrick Corrigan and Amy Watson. They explained in their article how people with mental illness struggle to live their everyday life; they said that people with the illness do not have much opportunity that defines a quality life. They also said explained how society, especially the media reacts with the stigma and not all people with the knowledge of stereotypes agree with it.

They said “Media analyses of film and print have identified three: people with mental illness are homicidal maniacs who need to be feared; they have childlike perceptions of the world that should be marveled; or they are responsible for their illness because they have weak character.”

Media is really manipulative and by showing the portrayal of a mentally disturbed person, gives us the knowledge that they should be feared, they should not interact with people or vice-versa, and most of they do not have the right to decide for themselves. If this continues, people with illness will find a hard time to ask for help.

On another article that I’ve read: “Mental Illness in Society” in merckmanuals.com written by Caroline Carney Doebbeling. She said that 50% of adults have experienced a mental disorder and despite of high numbers of people experiencing a mental disorder only about 20% of them received help. She also said how people with illness are often blamed for what they are experiencing and most of the time they are often misunderstood. One misapprehension is that “people with the illness are lazy and weak, and if they actually try, they could overcome it.”

She also said “Everyone requires a social network to satisfy the human need to be cared for, accepted, and emotionally supported, particularly in times of stress. Research has shown that strong social support may significantly improve recovery from both physical and mental illnesses.”

I think that the best way to challenge those stereotypes is to have firsthand contact with a mentally disturbed person. You know, like have a normal conversation with them; you’ll never know what you might learn from them. Just don’t be awkward around them, act the way you act with your friends.