Stigma In America

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In order to understand the word stigma, it is helpful to understand the components of stigma. Stigma is developed through Attitudes, stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. Attitudes can be positive or negative. We form attitudes based on our views of the world such as media and culture impact. Stereotypes are usually negative thoughts made about certain types of individuals or groups based on their race, gender, and mental health. Prejudice refers to negative attitudes toward particular individuals. For Example, if a person is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Soon after that, their co-workers find out they has a disorder the co-workers may start to treat the individual differently by not interacting or calling them “crazy” sometimes in worst …show more content…
It is necessary to understand that culture has a direct impact in the stigma attached to mental illness. In fact certain cultures such as minority groups are less likely to seek mental health treatment based on negative beliefs on mental illness, such as Latinos, Asians, and African-Americans. The history of mental health and illness in America dates back to the 1800’s. During the 1800’s the mentally ill were cared for at home by their families, most of the time, families would be embarrassed and humiliated they would keep the mentally ill inside the home and limit their exposure to neighbors. During the 1900s some states began building asylums. These asylums were extremely gruesome and filthy; people were chained in basements and treated under inhuman conditions. It was believed that the mentally ill needed to be isolated from the public because they needed to be treated; otherwise they were a dangerous to …show more content…
They assume they will be rejected socially therefore believing they are not valued which can have a huge impact on their self-esteem and confidence. This can also result in a barrier to seeking early treatment; often people who have self-sigma about their mental health will refrain from seeking professional help until their symptoms have become worst. Also sometimes self-stigma and stigma coming from health professionals can impact patience whom are already taken medication and it may discourage them from going back to the doctor and stop taking their medication which may prevent them from getting better. Stigma can affect many aspects of people’s live, Even a brief episode of mental illness such as anxiety can have negative effects on the individual’s wellbeing by disrupting work, families, and relationships. This can impact the well being of the patient’s family also. According to research it is reported that a quarter of children had been teased or bullied because of their parent’s mental health problems. Stigma can cause the patient’s mental health to be oscillated to other problems such as anxiety and

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