Stigma And Discrimination

You walk into an elevator and notice the braille near the buttons, put there to help the blind. You walk up the ramp specifically made to be wheelchair accessible. You see the option for closed captioning on the television for the deaf. But what is there for the mentally ill? Discrimination. People with mental illnesses face hardships and difficulties every day because of the negative stereotypes that are put on them. Certain individuals see others with physical disabilities and feel bad for them but when they encounter people with mental illnesses, they discriminate. Not everyone discriminates against the mentally ill but a substantial amount of people do. According to a poll given by the Kaiser Family Foundation, “Seventy-six percent of …show more content…
It seems as though the two mean the same thing, but they are actually quite different. Stigma is the negative stereotype and discrimination is the behavior resulting from the negative stereotype. There are other kinds of stigmas such as self-stigma, which contributes to low self-esteem and low self-efficacy. Discrimination can also be defined as unfair treatment due to a person’s identity. Whether it’s stigmatization or discrimination, they both have a negative impact on mental health. (“Stigma”) These two hurtful ways of stereotyping are very common and is hard to stop. It is possible for it to come to an end, but that would need full support from a lot of people. If people were to stop discriminating against those with mental illnesses it would affect more than just the mentally ill. First, people with mental illnesses would be happier and they wouldn’t feel the burden of having a mental illness on them as much. Additionally, stopping the stigma would make the family and friends of the mentally ill feel as though things can get better for people with mental illnesses. Stopping the stigma is only one step towards ending the discrimination. Why do people even discriminate? Many people fear and exclude the mentally ill because they don’t want to have to associate with them. In result, they discriminate as a defense mechanism. …show more content…
Ending discrimination and stopping the stigma is something many people strive to do. There are many organizations that were made to help end discrimination and to stop the stigma. Stamp Out Stigma is an organization that motivates people to talk about mental health and not ignore it. The organization also encourages people to take the pledge to help stop the stigma and help others along the way. Mental health disorders are much more common than heart disease, diabetes, migraines, asthma, etc, but inaccurate information leaves many people with mental illnesses afraid to speak out. (“Our”) There are many people trying to make a difference with mental health discrimination, but there are still people who don’t do it and not for good reason. People think others will judge them if they stick up for the mentally ill and they don’t want that. Other people think people with mental illnesses aren’t affected by discrimination very much. What they don’t know however, is that over 90% of people that commit suicide have been diagnosed with mental illness. People with mental illnesses may put on a front because they don’t want people to know how affected they are by it. With all of the discrimination affecting those with mental illnesses, there are a few laws made to enforce that discrimination needs to end. There is the Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 which protected mentally