Sharing – A Look at Mental Health Treatment Stigma
I wanted to post this as a reminder, because it can be difficult to talk about mental health and walk all of the thin lines of things you “should” say and things you “shouldn’t.” It’s not always that clear-cut.
“It’s important to note that people have different levels of sensitivity to mental health stigma. Some people might not be bothered by hearing others are glad they’re getting help; just like I’m not bothered by the word “crazy,” although I know many people are. In light of this, communication is vital, and I mean that for both sides of the conversation.
Those of us who deal with mental illness can’t expect people to be psychic and know what bothers us. We need to speak up when we feel something is stigmatizing toward mental health, or in this case, mental health treatment, like my friend did. Her post shared with her circle how she prefers to hear “get well soon” rather than have people say they’re glad she’s “getting the help she needs.”
As a blogger, and social media user, yes I want to try and be as careful as I can to post supportive messages, and not make anyone feel stigmatized through my words. That’s important, but I also have to remember that everyone is different. When you’re talking with someone through whatever medium, it’s important to not assume ill-intent. If the term “getting help” feels stigmatizing to you, simply ask people not to use it, suggest some other terms, etc. Have a conversation about how you want to talk about your mental health. Keep the lines of communication open, on both sides.
That’s how you end stigma. By communicating, instead of shutting anyone down.
I truly think it’s time we started categorizing mental health just the way we have done with physical illness. When someone has a cold or the flu it’s not near as serious as double pneumonia or lung cancer OR…COVID-19. The reason I say this is because someone who has an invisible illness , currently, is being lumped into a broad range of mental illnesses and let’s face it, individuals like the recent mass murderer in Nova Scotia, Canada will ALWAYS be remembered as someone who had HUGE issues and not everyone who has been diagnosed with a mental illness would even dream of committing such a heinous crime. It’s the SEVERRE cases of Mental Illness that will be remembered by the general public just like it’s those who have COVID-19 are held in a seperate category from anyone else right now. I hope I have made myself clear….hard to put my thoughts into understandable words when it comes to this subject.
I do get what you’re saying, mental health issues cover a wide variety of things, but it seems like for many people the impression of it is either someone who commits mass violence, or some other atrocity that we can’t understand, thus they must be “crazy”, and then on the other side are what many people would describe as people “with nothing to be depressed about”. It would be great if we could understand the variety, and complexities, of mental health, and how many people are really dealing with all of these different things. I feel like if people could understand how many people are dealing with mental health issues all around us every day, then maybe we could make a dent in being able to talk about it.