Your co-worker makes an innocent joke about depression, or someone tells you that therapy is simply a waste of time and asks you to lessen your anxiety and toughen up. Even if these situations are harmless, there are instances of mental health stigma. When mental health is not taken seriously, it becomes damaging to both the society and the individuals.
In the last few years, discussions on mental health are common. Celebrities and high-profile athletes are opening up about their struggles, which has enhanced mental health education and advocacy. But still, there is so much to be done to improve mental health, and decreasing mental health stigma is one of the top priorities. Thus, there is an increase in the number of mental health care providers, such as residential mental health treatment in Southern California.
What is mental health stigma?
Stigma is a negative attitude towards somebody depending on differentiating characteristics. It can be a health condition or specific disability and characteristics such as race, gender, culture, sexuality, and religion. One of the typical kinds of stigma is mental health stigma. Now, you might be thinking, what is the stigma involved with mental health? Well, it’s all about the negative beliefs and the attitudes people have in their minds on what it means to deal with mental health. It also includes what it implies to be diagnosed with any mental health disorder or look for treatment.
Here are some examples of actions that fortify mental health stigma:
- Considering people who are weak or needy when they ask for professional mental health support
- Making use of harmful and inaccurate terms such as crazy while referring to people suffering from mental health conditions.
- Judging somebody’s symptoms is like telling someone with depression “must snap out of it” or “exercise more.”
- Feeling oneself because of the prevailing condition
Here are five strategies for dealing with mental health stigma
If you are suffering from mental health problems, then you should not face it alone.
- Seek professional help: The more time you take to reach out, the more mental health issues can have an impact on the quality of your life. Through a skilled mental health professional, you must take steps to clearly know what you are fighting with and what you can do to deal with it. Suppose you are suffering from any illness or have any severe condition. In that case, a professional mental health care provider can assist you in understanding all options for adequately treating it. Talking through the mental health stigma that you are experiencing is also powerful.
- Avoid negative self-talk: Pay attention to what you speak to yourself, even in your mind. The things that we tell ourselves become a way of being a narrative of what we think about ourselves. If a person consistently judges or criticizes oneself, then there is a high chance of believing the messages you tell yourself. Such automatic negative thoughts generate pathways in your mind that reinforce and become different to move forward. Try to use positive affirmations to support the good and bring changes in your thought patterns.
- Avoid isolation: Stigmas and diseases thrive in darkness and are quite retreats of our minds. While it is very tempting to prevent interaction with others, you must challenge yourself to connect with somebody. Set up a goal and try building on it. For instance, speaking to a friend at least once or twice a week, even if it is just a simple “hi.” This seems big and quite intimidating, incredibly if you are isolating yourself. Then, slowly, you can start extensive interactions with others.
- In addition, several support groups for both are managing mental health and the family members providing support to them. There are several places to start with joining that can assist with your feelings of loneliness and offer a reminder that you are not the only one suffering.
- Keep in mind that you are not your illness: It is very tempting to think that you own your illness. But when you separate it a little, it will give it less power. Try to reframe; you are not broken and experiencing a low mental well-being. Rather than saying, “I am an anxious person, you can tell yourself, I am having anxiety symptoms.” It looks like a slight differentiation, but we are what we narrate ourselves in our minds.
- Work on developing mental fitness: Whether you are fighting mental illness or any other issues, you must build and strengthen your skills, which will assist you in maintaining and enhancing your mental well-being. Practices for mental fitness that develop your resilience, flexibility, stress tolerance, and compassion may not cure all, but they offer you a strong foundation for facing mental health problems. A lot of mental diseases are severe and are sometimes more life-threatening than physical diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, and society is not viewing thin in that light.
- So, wherever possible, you must remind yourself, as well as others, that mental health issues are real and need appropriate treatment. You can do it by bestowing to some causes, keeping the discussion alive, and thinking two times about making comments and utilizing some languages.
Conclusion
Like all other diseases, treatment of mental health illness needs significant time as well as resources. For several mental health issues, therapies and psychotherapy have proven very efficient. You should not feel ashamed for being honest about consulting a mental health care provider like residential mental health treatment in Southern California. Instead, you will do a world of good when you share your experiences with others.
Select authorization over shame. If you are suffering, morality and own your story and never make the mistake of allowing other people to bring changes in your mind. Encourage those who are looking for mental health support and give honor to their struggles. Also, encourage those people who are struggling to do the same thing. Keep in mind that the way you act and behave with others can assist in influencing other people’s attitudes and also mental illness. Remain kind to yourself and also others in the whole process.
Mental health is a vital part of overall health and wellness. We all should work together to break down and deal with the prevailing mental health stigma.
