Mental Health Stigma Advocacy Report: Healthcare Policy Analysis

This report analyzes the significant issue of mental health stigma in the United States, focusing on its impact on patients and the healthcare system. It examines the challenges faced by individuals with mental illnesses, including limited access to quality care and the negative effects of stigma from both society and healthcare providers. The report identifies the role of insurance companies in denying mental health benefits and highlights the need for policy reform to address these issues. The author emphasizes the importance of advocacy to reduce stigma and improve mental health treatment. It references key studies and provides a call to action for government intervention to improve the mental health of the patients. The report underscores the urgency of addressing stigma to improve patient outcomes and access to care.

Running head: HEALTH POLICY
Advocacy Activity
Student Name
University Name
Author Note

1
Healthcare
The monthly forum from Physicians for a National Health Program has been selected
for the advocacy activity. We had chosen the stigma that is associated with mental illness in
the United States of America. Roughly 1 out of 5 grown-ups in the U.S. encounters
psychological illnesses in a given year. Regardless of whether it is nervousness, misery,
schizophrenia, bipolar confusion or a dietary issue, the individuals who experience the ill
effects of mental health illnesses regularly face disgrace and battle with feeling different
(Haugen et al., 2017). Many cannot get to quality, reasonable and compelling social
insurance in a convenient way. While there has been a move in the manner psychological
wellness and dysfunctional behavior are seen in the United States, with a more prominent
acknowledgement of the requirement for emotional wellness administrations, plainly private
back up plans keep on bombing patients. Insurance agencies keep on denying psychological
wellness benefits, and emotional well-being treatment is regularly secured at lower levels
than "physical ailments." This leaves numerous people in a condition of interminable battle or
possibly dangerous states. Thus, in the wake of evaluating the criticality of the circumstance,
it is significant for us to lead a support action.
Psychological illnesses related disgrace, incorporating what exists in the human
services framework and among social insurance suppliers, has been distinguished as a
significant obstruction to get to treatment and recuperation, just as less fortunate quality
physical consideration for people with dysfunctional behaviors. Stigma likewise impacts
help-chasing practices of wellbeing suppliers themselves and contrarily intercedes their
workplace (Wu et al., 2017). Individuals with lived understanding of a psychological
instability ordinarily report feeling depreciated, rejected, and dehumanized by numerous
individuals of the wellbeing experts with whom they come into contact. Key subjects
incorporate inclination barred from choices, getting unpretentious or obvious dangers of
coercive treatment, being made to stand by unnecessarily long when looking for help, being

2
Healthcare
given deficient data about one's condition or treatment choices and being addressed or about
utilizing criticizing language. Another issue is an absence of mindfulness and oblivious
predispositions, which recognize the intensity of concealed convictions and mentalities that
can underlie shame related conduct. Deficient aptitudes and preparing appear to be related to
disparagement in two different ways (Corrigan et al., 2017). To begin with, it is accepted to
prompt sentiments of nervousness or dread and a craving for shirking and social/clinical
separation among professionals, which can contrarily affect tolerant supplier collaborations
and nature of care. Second, it can prompt less compelling treatment and more unfortunate
results.
From the opportunity, it made me understood that the level of stigma associated with
mental illness in the country for the patients has been increasing with an alarming rate which
needs to be addressed by the government such that their mental health is improved. It is
evident being a nurse that mental health patients have been facing stigma from the society
and family members because of which their medical condition does not improve further. It is
the responsibility of the government to recognize and reform government policies such that
the stigma associated with mental illness in the society could be reduced (Cheng et al., 2018).

3
Healthcare
References
Cheng, H. L., Wang, C., McDermott, R. C., Kridel, M., & Rislin, J. L. (2018). Self‐stigma,
mental health literacy, and attitudes toward seeking psychological help. Journal of
Counseling & Development, 96(1), 64-74.
Corrigan, P., Schomerus, G., Shuman, V., Kraus, D., Perlick, D., Harnish, A., ...& Smelson,
D. (2017). Developing a research agenda for understanding the stigma of addictions
Part I: lessons from the mental health stigma literature. The American journal on
addictions, 26(1), 59-66.
Haugen, P. T., McCrillis, A. M., Smid, G. E., & Nijdam, M. J. (2017). Mental health stigma
and barriers to mental health care for first responders: A systematic review and meta-
analysis. Journal of psychiatric research, 94, 218-229.
Wu, I. H., Bathje, G. J., Kalibatseva, Z., Sung, D., Leong, F. T., & Collins-Eaglin, J. (2017).
Stigma, mental health, and counseling service use: A person-centered approach to
mental health stigma profiles. Psychological services, 14(4), 490.