People With Mental Illness

Ever since the concept of mental illness became more mainstream, it has become a widely controversial topic. Based on what has been seen in society, people who are involved with mental disorders are often dehumanized in some way.

People with mental health issues have been viewed and treated in a variety of ways within western society throughout time. Historically if an individual displayed behaviours which disrupted their function in society and defied social norms they were viewed as lunatics, insane or even cursed (Cowan, 2008; Elder & Evans & Nizette, 2009). It is from these past issues that many people still have unreasonable thoughts about mental illness; their misconceptions have created unreasonable fears and negative attitudes toward those who experience it. This negativity brings for many the barriers of not only

Or they see them as violent and aggressive, but the truth is a person with mental health problems is more likely to be harmed or to harm themselves than someone else. The only reason a mentally ill person is violent or aggressive is from the lack of treatment and care. According to Mental Health Foundation, “People with mental health problems say that the social stigma attached to mental ill health and the discrimination they experience makes their difficulties worse and make it harder to recover.” People with a mental health problem have to battle their condition everyday on two ends. Frist they have to deal with their mental illness itself. Then they have to learn how to live with it in a world filled with stigma and discrimination. Society doesn’t understand that the mentally ill are not their mental illness. They are human beings first, they have likes, dislikes, hobbies, skills, fears, dreams and passions just like we do. As I mentioned before Liza Long, the author of the article “I am Adam Lanza’s Mother”, has a son with a mental health problem, but he is also a “13-year old genius who loves Harry Potter and his snuggle animal collection.” Many people with mental health problems have jobs, family, school, friends, pets, businesses and responsibilities like we do. A number of people with a mental health condition learn how to cope with

We have a tendency of shadowing out individuals who have been diagnosed with a mental illness. Despite our human nature of caring, we place those individuals in prisons or understaffed psychiatric facilities, leaving them to be the burden of others. People with mental illness may not be able to hold employment and may not have that family support. This public perception (stigma) “limits opportunities for individuals with mental illnesses and often prevents them from seeking appropriate help”. (Jeglic, 2015) How is it that the public perception is so strong when most people do not have expertise within the field of abnormal psychology?This perception is influenced by the media. “Information presented in the media can be

Crazies, loonies, insane, disabled, idiots, nuts, and schizos are just some of the many derogatory terms used to refer to the mentally ill. Mental illness is pushed under the rug and is considered a taboo subject in today’s world. Many think that since you cannot physically see psychiatric disorders, they are not real. Some believe people claim to have a mental illness so they can act out or not take responsibilities for one’s actions. So, even though we as a society are at the height of our research of mental illnesses and now know more than before, why do we still ignore it? Why do we not take it seriously? Sadly many, many people have been affected by the lack of communication concerning mental illness, its causes, and treatment. One of

My stereotypes and perceptions of the mentally ill have changed over the years. Some of these were because I lacked knowledge mental health and the other was just being ignorant. Public stigma gave me many preconceptions of the mentally ill. Media was probably the worst with its nightly news reporting, on reasons why a person had disruptive or violent behaviors. Reporter’s always tried to link the mental state of the person to the crime or incident. It was always interesting how everyone in my family sat around the TV making comments. I was young at the at time and listened to how they called confirmed people with a history of mental illness “nuts” or they most have “lost their marbles”. Growing up I remember if anyone did not act normal or

Most criminal television shows have some episodes that make someone with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), schizophrenia, or depression the murderer because it makes the vision of whatever incident that happened go away or makes the voices stop. They make the characters seem as if they are irrational and dangerous to be around when in reality most mental illness patients are the ones actually victimized in most situations. In the article Fawcett shares that “it is 10 times more likely for a character who is labeled mentally ill on a television show to commit a violent. In reality, there has been research done that has proved that it is 10 to 20 times more likely to commit a violent crime if you are someone that is not mentally ill.” You cannot blame people for assuming that most mentally ill people are dangerous to be around with the media displaying false information about them. Many people in the United States watch television shows that have something to do with crimes and the law, and while watching shows like those, you might come across an episode or two that illustrate mental illness in a negative way. Since we do not know better we believe the shows which leads up to why we might think a solider for example may be dangerous coming back from war with

Former mental patients must reach out and find a proper support system to help them remain on their medication and sane. A study preformed in Tokyo by Kido, Yoshifumi; Kawakami, Norito; Miyamoto, Yuki; Chiba, Rie; Tsuchiya, Masao (2013) showed that former patients that reside in more tight knit, willing-to-help communities will find the transition less threatening because of their expectations of receiving help from their neighbors. Yoshifumi, Norito, Yuki, Rie, and Masao (2013) also reported, “People living in a community with high trust might generalize their feelings of trust to people with mental illness and perceive them as trustworthy as a part of the community.” There were no findings that related volunteer work, fairness, or confidence

I truly see the person for who they are instead of their diagnosis. Individuals with a mental illness are at times very aware of what other people are thinking of them. Per the Mayo Clinic website, harmful effects of the stigma of mental illness could be bullying, lack of understanding by loved ones, fewer opportunities to work or activities, and reluctance to seek medical help (Mayo Clinic, 2014).

There are a few mental health stereotypes I’ve heard growing up. People with mental illness are crazy, dangerous, and etc. In reality, many of them just need someone to hear their voice and assure them that they’re not alone.

People with mental illness are exposed to all sorts of stigma. One of the worst, perhaps, is the misconception shared by others that their conditions are “in their heads.” If you have friends or family who make such comments, you may not know how to react. Handle these people appropriately by first managing your reaction. Then, decide if you want to help educate them on mental illnesses, or simply get distance for yourself.

Even without a mentally ill child, a person with a mental illness will still struggle career-wise. First and foremost, employers who are diagnosed with a mental illness are more likely to make less income than employees who do not suffer from a mental diagnosis. According to the Family Guidance Center, seventy percent of individuals diagnosed with mental illness make an average income of $ 20,000, due to the fact most are unable to work in certain conditions or at all ( Family Guidance Center). It is difficult for people with mental illnesses to find a higher paid job either from the circumstances they cannot work under or from the stigma they receive from others. At the same time, employers who have a mental illness may need to take longer leaves of absence or miss work more often than

Why do we as people tend to think that mentally disorder people are so dangerous? According to a recent survey that was conducted. About 60 percent of the people that was asked said that they believe that people with schizophrenia are dangerous. But are they really as dangerous as everyone puts them out to be? As stated in this on this following website, “Schizophrenia.com”:

Common stigmas with mental illness include feeling as though you will somehow be threatened by the individual whose mind is not well. It is also thought that someone with mental illness may be obviously identifiable, such as someone who is unkempt, or does not exercise good hygiene. The media does its fair share of perpetuating and instilling these images that many of us have of someone who is mentally ill. Another stigma is that the person on the corner who may be talking or mumbling to himself and is wearing torn, tattered, and dirty clothing must be a drug addict and couldn’t possibly be very intelligent. We do not stop to think that his mind may be in the process of being tortured by voices and magnified sounds.

Oftentimes, I find that I am captivated by mental illnesses and the people who suffer from them. I find them interesting because of the amount of physiological damage they can do to a person, without showing any physical impairment. They take such a toll on people mentally, that you think they would do the same physically, and because they do not, they are compelling. I believe that because mental illnesses often do not have a visible effect, people who are not suffering from them do not understand them. They often see mental illnesses as not as severe as physical ailments. With physical illnesses, people can see something happening to someone’s body and they are more aware of it, they care and understand it more, and they take the illness more seriously. They do all this simply because they can see the damage taking place. With