Stigma, coming from the Latin stem stigmat- means to mark or brand, especially a slave (Definition of STIGMA, 2016). Although stigma in modern society may not be as clear as a physical marker, it is still as prevalent and degrading. Even in progressive modern society, stigma persists surrounding mental illness, especially Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, more commonly known as OCD. The question, then, becomes why does this stigma persist? The answer however is neither simple nor succinct as the stigma has taken multiple complex facets as it has become ingrained in modern culture.
Background
What is OCD?
The first step in understanding the stigma that surrounds OCD is to understand Obsessive Compulsive Disorder itself. The disorder itself is …show more content…
This means that OCD sufferers face stigma from misconceptions about OCD and from misconceptions about the broader umbrella of mental illness. The stigma behind mental illness is strong and is reiterated in society daily through a combination of conversational language and the media. Simply listening to the language people use every day reveals quite a bit about society’s views on mental illness. Walking down the street one may hear, “she’s such a lunatic” or “are you out of your mind!” Perhaps worse, is society’s idea that “murderers are “psycho killers” … and facilities for those with mental illnesses are “looney bins” or “nut houses’” (Hinshaw, 2007). These phrases reveal how society ridicules those suffering from mental illness and equate such an illness with inherent danger and fear. Furthermore, the fact that such phrases have become so engrained and normalized in modern society illustrates how deep-rooted the stigma behind mental illness is. However, language is not the only way that mental illness stigma is spread, media is also a key contributor. Data complied over the years has shown that “72% of prime-time portrayals of people with mental disorders featured violent tendencies; nearly one-fourth of adults with mental disorders were depicted as killers” (Hinshaw, 2007). While one may argue that such portrayals have little impact on people’s …show more content…
Disease trivialization has three main components: oversimplification of symptoms, skepticism of the severity, and levity (Pavelko, 2015). The first facet of disease trivialization, the oversimplification of symptoms, is easily applicable to OCD. For example, few people outside of the medical community are aware that OCD has many sub-types. However, due to media coverage focusing heavily on compulsive OCD over purely obsessive OCD many people only associate the disorder with organizing or hand-washing (Allen, 2013). Unfortunately, this disparity in knowledge excludes many of the subtypes in OCD and in turn excludes many of the symptoms that are specific to these subtypes. The next part of OCD trivialization is skepticism of the severity, which is reflected in the media portrayals of OCD characters as more childlike and silly. Specifically, in “Monk,” the show about a detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder portrays the serious physiological condition as a mere quirk, with the detective being silly, funny, and childlike (Fawcett, 2015). Such portrayals present the disease as less severe than it is and in turn raise doubting the audience’s mind about the real severity of the illness. Thus, the audience becomes skeptical of the severity of OCD, completing the second step of disease trivialization. Finally, levity comes into play. Not only do the
Background
What is OCD?
The first step in understanding the stigma that surrounds OCD is to understand Obsessive Compulsive Disorder itself. The disorder itself is …show more content…
This means that OCD sufferers face stigma from misconceptions about OCD and from misconceptions about the broader umbrella of mental illness. The stigma behind mental illness is strong and is reiterated in society daily through a combination of conversational language and the media. Simply listening to the language people use every day reveals quite a bit about society’s views on mental illness. Walking down the street one may hear, “she’s such a lunatic” or “are you out of your mind!” Perhaps worse, is society’s idea that “murderers are “psycho killers” … and facilities for those with mental illnesses are “looney bins” or “nut houses’” (Hinshaw, 2007). These phrases reveal how society ridicules those suffering from mental illness and equate such an illness with inherent danger and fear. Furthermore, the fact that such phrases have become so engrained and normalized in modern society illustrates how deep-rooted the stigma behind mental illness is. However, language is not the only way that mental illness stigma is spread, media is also a key contributor. Data complied over the years has shown that “72% of prime-time portrayals of people with mental disorders featured violent tendencies; nearly one-fourth of adults with mental disorders were depicted as killers” (Hinshaw, 2007). While one may argue that such portrayals have little impact on people’s …show more content…
Disease trivialization has three main components: oversimplification of symptoms, skepticism of the severity, and levity (Pavelko, 2015). The first facet of disease trivialization, the oversimplification of symptoms, is easily applicable to OCD. For example, few people outside of the medical community are aware that OCD has many sub-types. However, due to media coverage focusing heavily on compulsive OCD over purely obsessive OCD many people only associate the disorder with organizing or hand-washing (Allen, 2013). Unfortunately, this disparity in knowledge excludes many of the subtypes in OCD and in turn excludes many of the symptoms that are specific to these subtypes. The next part of OCD trivialization is skepticism of the severity, which is reflected in the media portrayals of OCD characters as more childlike and silly. Specifically, in “Monk,” the show about a detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder portrays the serious physiological condition as a mere quirk, with the detective being silly, funny, and childlike (Fawcett, 2015). Such portrayals present the disease as less severe than it is and in turn raise doubting the audience’s mind about the real severity of the illness. Thus, the audience becomes skeptical of the severity of OCD, completing the second step of disease trivialization. Finally, levity comes into play. Not only do the