Depression And Stigma Research

While stigma may not necessarily be a cause of a person’s mental disorder, it can certainly contribute to the complication and perpetuation of their illness. The effect of stigma goes well beyond just the patient and provides a commentary on society’s overall level of intolerance of those who are considered different from the majority. By recognizing the level of stigma that exists, perhaps we can alter that behavior and gravitate towards a more productive attitude towards mental illness.

While the treatment methodology for mental illness has improved over the last few decades, the negative stigma surrounding those who seek care is still a major roadblock. (Corrigan, 2004) To better understand the term stigma, the definition must first be examined. According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary Stigma is defined as “a set of negative often unfair beliefs that a society or group of people have about something; a mark of shame or discredit.” (Stigma, 2015). These views are often

Within the past two decades there’s been a revival in efforts to reduce stigmatization attached to mental illnesses. It was concluded that if mental illnesses were perceived better as ‘real’ diseases by the public that stigma would go down greatly. Reports proposed the idea that better scientific understanding of mental illnesses by the general public could greatly reduce stigma. Stigma is intensely rooted in social and cultural norms it’s patterns devalue and dehumanize groups of individuals within society (in this case mentally ill people). Stigma constructs barriers for individuals, barriers that limit a person’s abilities to have equal opportunities for employment, safe housing, health care and social relationships.Efforts to reduce stigma in recent years have

However, with today's technology, questions are being raised about the adequacy of treatment. Despite having more knowledge about mental illness, the majority of the people affected, don’t seek help. There is often a negative stigma among society about people with mental illness. People will avoid living, employing or even socializing with mental health victims. Because of this stigma is has caused an affected person to feel humiliation and shame of their sense of self worth.

The stigma of mental health is one that has been around for many years and still persists in modern society. According to The Oxford Dictionary, stigma is defined as “A mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person”. In regards to mental health, it means that people within the past and current times look upon someone with a mental illness as something is wrong with them. This stigma is also expressed in literature.

Eisenberg, Downs, Golberstein & Zivin (2009) had specific research questions; did these participants have levels of high or low stigmas, how heavily were they affected by these stigmas and what was the commonalities between seeking mental health treatment and the two levels of stigma? These researchers hypothesized that these stigmas would be interrelated to a person’s lower help-seeking behavior because it was assumed that both individual and peers views on mental health illnesses impacted the participant’s opinion. Eisenberg, Downs, Golberstein & Zivin (2009) used randomly sampled 5,555 students from 13 universities. These participants were diverse to decrease any risk to the experiments validity. There were three key finding that I feel are important to this topic because it shows how the lack of early on intervention can affect a person later on in life. Public stigma like stereotyping or discrimination out weighted the individual stigmas, participants who were either male, younger in age, Asian, had a deeper religious faith, or lower had higher personal stigmas and stigmas are negatively impact individuals’ willingness to seek treatment of any

Depression is one of the leading causes of death in the world (Moreh and O’Lawrence 3). Approximately 121 million people around the world are affected by depression symptoms (Moreh and O’Lawrence 2). Depression is different than normal sadness that everyone experiences in their lives. Depression is “a common psychological disorder…..that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest” (Moreh and O’Lawrence 2). Depression is often thought of as an issue that only affects adults, but at any given time 10 to 15 percent of teens and young adults are depressed (Moreh and O’Lawrence 2).

Stigma has been said to be “a feeling of being negatively differentiated owing to a particular condition, group membership or state in life”(Arboleda-Florez & Stuart, 2012, p. 458). There are typically two types of mental illness stigma that are discussed. Public stigma, also known as societal stigma, is the stigma associated with the prejudicial attitudes the public holds towards those people who suffer from mental illness (Arboleda-Florez & Stuart, 2012; Corrigan, Markowitz, Watson, Rowan & Kubiak, 2003). Self-stigma, also known as internalized stigma, is the loss of self-esteem, withdrawal, and personal shame that some with mental illness will experience. Self-stigma is usually developed when those who suffer from mental illness associate the negative stereotypes the public holds with themselves (Chronister, Chou, & Lieo, 2013; Corrigan et al., 2003).

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 350 million people suffer from depression (CITATION).  Even with such a large number of people affected by depression, stigma is an issue in our society because it can result in prejudice.  This prejudice can affect many aspects of everyday life, especially social aspects (Bellanca & Pote 2013).  The stigma surrounding depression is also frequently cited as a barrier to seeking help (Wang citation).  Because of these severe consequences, it is essential to research and implement stigma reduction efforts into society.  Better informing people about depression can change how they view the disorder, which can consequently reduce stigma (Han and chen) (Schiller). Ways to reduce stigma should

Mental health and its stigma are an important issue plaguing today’s society. Many do not understand or acknowledge the severity of mental illness. The stigma against mental

During a mental health event the First Lady, Michelle Obama said, “At the root of this dilemma is the way we view mental health in this country. [...] Whether an illness affects your heart, your leg or your brain, it’s still an illness, and there should be no distinction.” This shows that mental illness stigma in society is based on mental illness being perceived more negatively than other physical illness when it should actually be seen as the same. Stigma around mental illness has had very immense adverse effects on the willingness of undiagnosed suffers to not seek treatment when they need it. As a result of this one in five people with a mental illness will not get the treatment they need which has the effect of high suicide rates among the untreated sufferers. In an effort to reduce stigma around mental illness, so that more undiagnosed sufferers seek treatment, schools should devote more time to increasing awareness of mental illness and its effects.

There are many stigmas, or misconceptions and misperceptions in our society which need to be shattered. I believe that one of the worse possible effects of stigma is that it causes those affected by psychological disorders, or mental illness, to crawl more deeply into themselves because it provokes a sense of shame. Stigma thrusts those suffering with mental illness into a sense of isolation, social exclusion, and discrimination. “Stigma can lead to discrimination … It may be obvious or direct … Or it may be unintentional or subtle…” (Staff). Stigma is often as big as the illness itself and I confess to having been a perpetuator of this dreaded thing, although not consciously aware and without the intent of furthering the harm of someone.

There is a stigma in our country regarding mental health and its treatment. These stigma are divided between social stigma and perceived or self-stigma. Social stigma are those that society places negative feelings towards a certain group, which can lead to discrimination. Perceived or self-stigma are those internalized feelings of the mentally ill individual on how they feel society views them. Both types of stigma can lead to negative feelings of the mentally ill individual through feelings of shame, depression, hopelessness, and anxiety. Current policies on mental health are limited by federal legislation and may only address the aspect of public discrimination.

Individuals with serious mental illness are doubly affected by their disease; not only do they experience the often debilitating symptoms of their condition, but they must also endure mundane mental health stigmas and prejudices. Stigmatized attitudes are perceived to be one of the greatest impediments to living a complete and fulfilling life. Stigma has been defined as a combination of three related problems: ignorance, prejudice and discrimination (Rose, Thornicroft, Pinfold, & Kassam, 2007). Ignorance implies a lack of knowledge, prejudice entails negative attitudes, and discrimination involves exclusionary actions against people deemed to be different. Two forms of stigma are commonly distinguished in literature. Public stigma describes the attitudes of society towards people with mental illness, while self-stigma results from the internalization of prejudice by people who suffer from mental health conditions (Corrigan, Powell, & Rüsch, 2012). The World Health Organization announced that stigma was the most crucial obstacle to overcome for a community to functioning effectively and efficiently (Ontario Hospital Association, 2013).

To begin with, let us make clear what is depression. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, depression is described as a serious mental disorder in which a person suffers long time of sadness, loneliness, and other negative feelings. Depression affects how you feel about yourself such as lack of energy and concentration, lose interest in work and hobbies, and have trouble of insomnia. Depression makes life more and more difficult and dispirited. More importantly, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), major depression is the leading cause of mental disorder for people in the United States aged 15 to 44. Recent estimates show that about 10 to 15% of children and teens experience depression at