The stigma mental health disorders carry

There is a stigma mental health disorders carry. Many people in society think that people suffering with mental health disorders are crazy. Some people think of them as weak or a joke. On the whole physical illnesses don't carry the same stigma.

Anybody can become mentally ill that is what many people don't seem to realize. Because of the stigma of mental health disorders , people are afraid of reactions and resulting discrimination that may occur.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,

• A lot of people would rather tell their employers that they were put in jail for a petty crime than admit to having spent time in a psychiatric hospital.
• Stigma can result in inadequate insurance coverage for mental health services.
• Stigma leads to fear, mistrust and violence against people who have mental illness as well as their families.
• Stigma may cause friends and families reject you if you have a mental illness.
• Stigma may stop people from getting help from mental health services.

Although these statements come from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services you can really say it is true of any place in the world.

There are numerous things being done by organizations and governments to attempt to transform public attitudes to mental health. In my opinion until people we notice that mental illness does not discriminate and that it can affect every one of us, regardless of age, social or gender background, the stigma connected to mental disorders is likely to carry on.

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