Demystifying Mental Health: Stigma Is Itself A Fear
We all have a mental health.
And each of our mental health is in flex all of the time. We, our minds and our bodies and our hearts, change every moment. What separates people with so called "mental illness" (I hate this term) is an us-them mentality. A simple–while misdirected–belief that mentally ill people are different. And that begets fear.
I am very excited that HealthyPlace.com began their Stand Up For Mental Health Campaign this week. This award winning website wants to break the stigma by having people join together and speak out about their problems! I say, let's do it!
If we do it, other people will feel less alone and isolated. And I think that heals better than anything.
Help us spread the word. Go here to put a button on your website like mine below.
(See the Stand Up For Mental Health button on my Heal Now blog and my counseling website.)
You have all read about my anxiety: My Introduction to Anxiety and Fear of Flying. And many people have wrote to me about theirs. Sometime I feel like in today's day and age, anxiety is more the norm than living fear free. Fear is biologically based, and anxiety is learned from our culture and media– from our parents and their parents. Anxiety comes in all shapes and sizes, ranging from not so bad to really intense. But it also sometimes disguised by desperation, anger, impatience, and laziness. Let's be honest, barely any of us, lives with no fear.
Stigma itself is a fear.
If someone acts differently because you have a "mental illness," it is because he or she is afraid or judgmental when they need not be. Doesn't that mean that person has one too?
It is time to demystify mental health, realize that were are all struggling to adapt here on this crazy planet. Some people struggle more than others but that is usually because they have had a horrible experience that wasn't their fault. Shame causes worse mental health than anything else. If we get rid of the shame of having a mental illness, we get rid of more than half of what ails.
Instead of making people feel more separate, we need to pull them closer into our arms and tell them they are OK. We start by telling each other than we are OK. Please know that whatever you feel, it is OK.
Over to you, what do you think of the mental health stigma? How does it effect you?
Read my guest post at Echoes19 Love is….
By Jodi Lobozzo Aman
I blog here: Heal Now and Forever Be In Peace
and here: Anxiety-Schmanxiety Blog,
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APA Reference
Lobozzo, J.
(2013, January 23). Demystifying Mental Health: Stigma Is Itself A Fear, HealthyPlace. Retrieved
on 2024, November 21 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/anxiety-schmanxiety/2013/01/demystifying-mental-health
Author: Jodi Lobozzo Aman, LCSW-R
A life without fear would be nice, but I don't think it's possible. Anxiety is common, and yes, we need to know that we aren't abnormal for experiencing it and furthermore, we can overcome it.
Great post.
Great explanation of what stigma really is--fear. I think some of it is fear of the unknown. The general public doesn't have a good understanding of mental illnesses. People with mental illnesses end up being distrusted and feared because they have issues that aren't always easy to understand. So I think education is an important part of ending the stigma. I also believe, as you say, that accepting and loving each other is a big part of ending stigma. Thank you for spreading your compassion!
I have experienced bi-polar disorder; type-1, for about 15.yrs. I reveal this to a very limited.number.of.people. I take 7 kinds.of medication Few people comprehend how.difficult it is. I would like to join your organization. Gordon Bowen
Gordon, Thank you for telling all of us. You can come on Healthyplace.com 24 hours a day! And read and hopefully get some comfort and people who undertsand! xoxo
Against imposing achievement of neuroscience and Psychopharmacotherapeutic approaches, it stick yet the successful treatment of mental disorder, anywhere all over the world. So, it is for recovering of psychiatric patient, as crucial step of complex and long-term management of mental illnesses. The main impediment for this miserable mischance of psychiatric patient and their close relatives is atavistic prejudice on mental health/disorder as continuum of global functioning of psychological processes. We are between two extremes point of mental statement: zero mental health and maximum mental condition, which are fictive paradigms. In real life we have got many psychiatric signs and symptoms, but mental illness is determinate by our level of daily life productivity. Everyone have got oneself deeds and needs that should performed, and the index of their accomplishment indicate for our mental health or illness. On the other hand, mental illnesses are curable as like as other somatic ones by current psychiatric protocols. These and others characteristics of mental pathology should be promote by simple and understanding language to community, in order to demystifying the nebulous on mental ill patient and whole system of mental service, as well. This noble duty, primary should make experts of mental health by acceptable way, because their knowledge and ability is dedicate to mentally ill patient with specific sociocultural aspects and pertains. Mentally ill persons should be ingredient part of our community and no exclusive matter of society. Without rehabilitation and resocialisation of mentally ill persons, stigma of mental health will continue to harms the fate of mentally ill patients and whole community, as well.