When Stigma Hits The Ones We Love
You would think that someone trying to support a loved one with mental health struggles would need as much support from others as they can get. You might even believe that, as much as we talk about the need to support caregivers, that support would be available.
The truth might be bleaker than that.
Research reveals people desire social distance from spouses of those with mental illness
Felix conducted a vignette survey experiment that includes four behaviors meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria for depression, schizophrenia, opioid dependence and alcohol dependence. This also includes a control condition of “daily troubles” that describes an individual with day-to-day problems not meeting the criteria for any disorder.
The study found that respondents are more likely to desire social distance from vignette characters displaying mental health symptoms compared to vignette characters displaying daily troubles. But it also revealed respondents are more likely to desire the same social distance from spouses of those displaying mental health symptoms.
The desire was less for the spouses of those showing signs of depression than for other symptoms, which may mean we are starting to understand and destigmatize that one issue, but the rest isn’t good.
Can you imagine the double blow it must be to have your spouse struggling with addiction or severe mental illness, and know that your friends are likely avoiding you as well? Is there stigma directed at you for being married to someone with mental health issues?
Do we really blame spouses for the mental health struggles of their partners by default? As if there aren’t a multitude of reasons that people struggle with their mental health that have nothing to do with their marriage?
That’s a sad state of affairs that only hurts people who could use a community more than anything else.
