What Does Stigma Mean To You?

[maddog]

Yes, I too believe that more people than not do experience some form of personal hardship in their lives. Like all of us, most don't like to admit it or acknowledge it openly, but sometimes I think it helps to remind ourselves that for every judgmental person out there who reacts in fear or with stigmatising behaviour, there are probably two people who will, at the very least, be silently sensitive, and who may even be spurred on to confess or share something of their own.

We human beings are complex, multi-layered creatures, what you see is rarely what you get.

Maddog

 

[Kb3]

Wow, I have been dealing with this issue daily for over a decade and so much of what is written on this thread applies! Some very insightful comments here.:)

I'd say things started shifting in a more positive direction for me when I stopped stigmatising myself. That has allowed me to sit back some more and realise what is acceptable behaviour from other people, and what is not. The next step was making clear what my boundaries were, and sticking with them even when pushed.

Sometimes even when you're not feeling very strong, you have to show other people how they need to perceive and treat you. I try to think of it as a public service;).

 

[Lionheart]

What other people think of me is none of my business!!! LOL ;) This is one of my favorite quotes because what other people think is about them and not about me! :)

(Personally, I don't think there is anything that will help stop the stigma of mental illness, outside of educating the ignorant).

 

[SydneyH]

Freakofnurture said: "When you wear a stigma..."

That is such a brilliant way to say it. I do feel like I'm wearing the stigma. It's definitely not part of me. Sometimes it may be where people might not notice it. While at other times, it's mounted to my forehead.

 

[Srain]

My experience is that most of the stigma comes in the medical community, once unleashed it is difficult to harness. I am in the process of having to prove the stigma wrong once again.

I don't know if I wear my Stigma, it's my symptoms that can take over and how they are perceived. Most people dont jump to conclusions, it tends to be old family and physicians. This is my main issue.

 

[Zipperhead]

Stigma to me is the fear of being judged. It is the factor that keeps people from looking for help. The fear that people will judge you, or label you. It is what causes people to resist looking for help. And what causes the stigma?

If people accepted that this condition could happen to anyone, that this is something beyond our control, that we are not just weak, then they would have to accept that this could happen to them. Stigma is the result of fear. The result of self chosen ignorance. They don't want to understand, because if they accept the truth, they might be next. The clouds are still pink in their world, and no one can convince them otherwise. Ignorance is bliss.

 

[Tinyflame]

Yes Zip, the knowledge that people do judge you, and then (they) act accordingly.

I sometimes wonder if they at some point in their life, will 'understand' all too well. Not thought as retribution, but I think just because it can happen to anyone, at any point in their life.
Oh well.-

 

[Meadowsweet]

If people accepted that this condition could happen to anyone, that this is something beyond our control, that we are not just weak, then they would have to accept that this could happen to them. Stigma is the result of fear. The result of self chosen ignorance. They don't want to understand, because if they accept the truth, they might be next. The clouds are still pink in their world, and no one can convince them otherwise. Ignorance is bliss.

zipperhead, I think this is so right. Not just regarding mental illness, but regarding many traumas too.

In the UK there is a capaign against stigma and discrimination that offers helpful tips for talking about it and things, can be found here- [DLMURL]http://time-to-change.org.uk/home[/DLMURL]

 

[Kb3]

I think it's admirable that there's a stigma campaign in the UK at all, but unfortunately I think it is still sort of sending the wrong message and won't really have much impact in the end.

The message still makes mentally ill people come off as "them" and inferior and unpredictable. In a way I wonder if it might make things worse?

I wonder if it wouldn't be more effective if they showed something likea teacher in a classroom, a doctor seeing patients in their office, a businessman in a meeting and present it as the images of people who have dealt with and overcome serious mental illness?

It would show how you wouldn't be able to tell that these people ever had problems, and also get across the message that you can have suffered a mental illness and succeed in life.

Why not? It seems like the preferred current image of the mentally ill is that of an unstable and unapproachable person who is best controlled by medications and avoided.

I wonder if it's because there is so little faith that mental health problems can be treated and overcome by both the public as well as by the medical profession?

 

[Anna]

To me, stigma means being the black sheep of the family. The misfit. Never fitting in, Never being good enough or ever please. No matter what you do even if good it is shunned on. Being labelled.

 

[Lady of Longbourn]

The person who speaks out even though everyone else is going the other way.

Hmmm...Good thread. Have to think about it some more. :)

 

[KP the nut]

I think it's admirable that there's a stigma campaign in the UK at all, but unfortunately I think it is still sort of sending the wrong message and won't really have much impact in the end.

The message still makes mentally ill people come off as "them" and inferior and unpredictable. In a way I wonder if it might make things worse?

I know the ad you mean. On one side it is good that mental illness is being highlighted but like you I am unsure of the positive impact.

I wonder if it was made by someone who has never been affected by mental health issues (yet).