Watching social media on the US election night last week left me with a feeling of dread and it's important not to stigmatize that type of emotional reaction to the US election. The heaviness of people’s words and the fears they expressed post after post was palpable through the screen. I hadn’t searched for the negative; I simply clicked on the trending hashtags #USElection2016 and #ElectionNight. The posts the next morning after Donald Trump’s victory was much the same. But US election emotions shouldn't be stigmatized.

Stigma affects those with psychosis, especially when people believe psychosis and psychopathy are the same conditions despite that the two are very different. It is wrong to stigmatize a person with psychosis in any way for many reasons. It is worse to stigmatize a mentally ill person with psychosis, accusing them of being violent or psychopathic. Psychosis is a condition common in people with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar disorder, among other mental illnesses. 

There are plenty of ways stigma surfaces around Halloween (Mental Illness Stigma And Halloween: A Teachable Moment) and this include stigmatizing Halloween costumes. Typically, we hear about costumes that are promoting hurtful stereotypes for cultural or racial groups and the posts start asking people to not wear those costumes because of the messages they send. Brock University in Ontario, Canada has even banned these types of costumes, as well as costumes that make light of mental health issues, and those costumes certainly are cropping up, too. So far I’ve seen one costume that is supposed to be a “skitzo” and then there is the widely spoken-against self-harm costume that was listed on Walmart’s website before it was taken down and an apology was issued. Here's how you might responde to these stigmatizing costumes used for Halloween.

Anxiety caused by mental health stigma requires unique coping skills but overcoming it is possible. Mental health stigma can cause us to question ourselves.  One of the ways this mental health stigma causes anxiety when we question ourselves is when we become aware of many little issues that really mean nothing. Over time, this overthinking can lead to anxiety. In other cases, people may be prone to anxiety, to begin with, perhaps because of simple genetics or a past history of many things from bullying to abuse.  Then, when mental health symptoms occur, anxiety manifests itself.  Anxiety caused by mental health stigma can cause people to stutter, or have hand tremors, pace, or even just feel uncomfortable. In extreme cases, panic attacks can come about when we are under this kind of stress. Anxiety comes in many forms, and it is important to understand how it affects you so you can cope with it and arm yourself against the anxiety mental health stigma can cause. To do this, a good first step is to learn how anxiety treatment can help. It also won't hurt to take a short anxiety test. If your quiz results show anxiety (due to mental health stigma or any anxiety cause), your mental health team, which includes any counselors, psychologists, nurses or psychiatrists you see, should be able to help you address it.

There are many ways that people cope with and treat mental illnesses, whether it be different types of mental health therapy, meditation, exercise, or medication. The list could go on and what it shows is that for each person something different will work. It’s part of the complex nature of these illnesses and part of the mystery that still needs solving.

Mental health stigma at school from peers can lead to bullying. Bullying can be an extremely difficult and traumatizing problem for children, especially those with mental health issues. Short term, when a child is being bullied and has a mental health problem, additional problems may add to their original diagnosis. These could be anything from social anxiety problems to depression. Further, during a child's critical formative years, mental health stigma at school (as bullying) affects the child for years to come. Here are some things you can do when your child faces mental health stigma at school.

Social isolation caused by mental health stigma can be debilitating. Many people are aware of social anxiety disorder, but social isolation is a form of anxiety where a mental health patient is not in a care facility but their own home and has a hard time facing the many forms of mental health stigma in society (Mental Illness, Isolation, and Loneliness).

Fighting mental health stigma isn't done by walking away. Although, in general, “walk away” is actually some pretty solid advice. If you’re looking to avoid confrontation, triggers, frustrations or other detrimental situations, then yes, by all means, please save yourself the grief and trouble by walking away. But as someone looking to advocate against the stigma of mental illnesses, I know that walking away doesn't help fight mental health stigma.

Some people don't realize it, but mental health stigma can affect those in school or career training. This stigma, which affects people with mental health issues from elementary to post-secondary training, not only hurts the person involved when it happens, it can create barriers that keep the person from finding the right job, making a living, and having what he or she deserves--a full and productive life. Mental health stigma is almost always unfounded; for example, when people think of schizophrenia as having links to violent crime, and it is also extremely unfair to the person who is being stigmatised in the classroom. Don't let mental health stigma stop your career training or schooling.

The phrase “get over it” is something the mental health community has heard and spoken out against many times (What Is Stigma?). In particular, we hear it applied to depression and anxiety, but likely because those are the two mental illnesses that are most spoken about. The problem is, even though we’ve discussed the phrase and the problems it presents, it’s still something we hear over and over again, which, to me, means it’s something we need to continue speaking out against. "Get over it" just isn't helpful advice for a person with a mental illness.