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From the Desk of Dr. Max, WellLife Network: Stigma and Mental Illness
Stigma continues to be an obstacle for many individuals struggling with emotional health challenges. Seeking help for these challenges is additionally made more difficult with the limited quality of best practice resources. Stigma, whether community or self-based, inhibits many from even...
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Stigma Is Being Used as a Political Weapon: Reject It
I and many others have said it before but, as recent events make clear, we will have to say it again and again and again: Mental illness is not the cause of mass murder in the United States. The continuing assertion by the political right that it is has become a core element of the vituperative...
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Intersectionality in Behavioral Health: Serving Those with Membership in Multiple Stigmatized Groups
What are your social identities? How do you identify and how does the world see you? “Intersectionality, a term coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, emphasizes the “multidimensionality” of oppressed people’s lived experiences and recognizes how various types of oppression frequently...
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Consumer Perspectives: Overcoming the Stigma of Mental Health, Chronic Illness, and Homelessness
This article is part of a quarterly series giving voice to the perspectives of individuals with lived experiences as they share their opinions on a particular topic. The authors are served by Services for the UnderServed (S:US), a New York City-based nonprofit that is committed to giving every New...
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Overcoming the Stigma of Mental Illness: Peers Play a Critical Role
Sharing a lived experience may be the single most important tool we have to address the stigma of living with a mental illness, and the isolation of COVID only exacerbated how important it can be to have someone to talk with who truly understands. Over the past two years, we all learned to keep a...
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Improving Help-Seeking and Reducing Stigma Through Public Messaging
We know that mental health stigma can impact a person’s willingness to reach out for help. They may be afraid of what others will think or feel ashamed that they’re not “strong enough” to deal with a problem on their own. But we also know these thoughts are fueled by stigma, not truth....
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On Self-Stigma and Employment
When we talk about stigmatization of people with behavioral health conditions in employment, many of us think of Equal Employment Opportunity disclaimers many companies place at the end of their job descriptions. Others would mention the Americans with Disabilities Act and name drop reasonable...
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The Impact of Stigma on Mental Health Treatment for Children
Adults with mental health conditions typically receive treatment approximately 8-10 years after symptoms have begun (Sarper Taskiran, MD). Studies show that 1 in 5 children are diagnosed with a serious mental health condition during their adolescence (5 Ways to End Mental Health Stigma, 2020)....
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How Mental Health Stigma Drives Suicide Risk
The inter-relationship between suicide risk, mental illness, and stigma against mental illness is multi-faceted and strong. Both mental illness and suicide are highly stigmatized. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) identifies mental illness as a significant risk factor for...
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A Paradigm Shift: Addressing Two Misrecognitions About the Stigma of Mental Illness
The stigma of mental illness has proven to be persistent and stubbornly immune to a wide range of stigma-reducing campaigns, programs, and interventions. The intensity of stigma varies by diagnosis, with depression and anxiety being less stigmatizing than, for example, schizophrenia and bipolar...
