HSW1110 Essay: Mental Health Stigma and Indigenous Australians

This essay examines the pervasive issue of mental health stigma and its adverse effects on service utilization, with a particular focus on the Indigenous Australian population. The paper builds upon Corrigan's (2004) assertions, evaluating the current state of mental health services and the barrie...Read More

Running head: MENTAL AND WELL BEING 1
Mental and Well Being
Student’s Name
Couse Code
Course Examiners Name
1500 Words

MENTAL AND WELL BEING 2
Mental and Well Being
Introduction
Mental health is the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral wellbeing of individuals. It
determines how we feel, thinks, or behaves. Mental health can also be used to refer to a situation
where mental disorders are not experienced. With mental health, individuals can realize their
potential and abilities, which in turn increases their productivity and fruitfulness in society. Such
individuals can find a relevant solution to the problems and challenges around them. For people
with mental disorders, mental health services have been developed to help them improve or cure
their conditions.
This paper focuses on the stigma associated with the mental health services in the society.
Therefore, this paper will be based on the assertion that Corrigan, 2004, made fifteen years back.
The importance of this paper is that it evaluates the allegations by Corrigan, 2004, and compares
to the current state of the society as far as mental health services are concerned. The indigenous
Australians are the leading group in which this paper puts more focus on.
Main Body
Among the most vulnerable groups of people in Australia, Indigenous Australians are the
most susceptible people to mental disorders and illness. This is as a result of European
colonization for a long time. Colonialism and its related activities exposed the Indigenous
Australians to multiple risks factors that may lead to a poor mental condition. According to
Corrigan, 2004, many people often underestimate the benefits that mental health services have
on individuals with poor mental conditions. However, stigma around Indigenous Australian
societies is the main reason why people do not participate in these psychiatric services and
programs.
According to an article by Clement, et., al, 2015, stigma contributes moderately and
partially to the adverse effects associated with mental health help-seeking. The methodology
used to compile the findings of this article makes it very reliable for our topic concerning the
stigma on mental health services. One of the most appropriate methods used is the use of
electronic databases. A total of five electronic databases were used during this research. Time is
another critical factor; the results in this article were produced after 31 years of references review
and automatic database search.
Another useful method that makes this articled credible is the use of qualitative and
quantitative analysis. It entailed the analysis and synthesis of different subgroups. Importantly, a
critical meta-synthesis of both the quantitative and qualitative studies was conducted. These
methods play a significant role in compiling credible and reliable results on essential matters
such as stigma on mental health services, especially, in Indigenous Australians subgroup.
The results of the studies from this article indicate that internalized and treated stigma is
strongly associated with reduced help-seeking on poor mental status. Furthermore, stigma is
ranked as the highest barrier to mental health-seeking in society today. Comparing these results

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to those from Corrigan, 2004, it is clear that not much change has occurred. The people in the
community are afraid of seeking help on mental health since they are afraid of the opinion that
people may have towards their decision. For this reason, many people who would benefit from
the mental health programs and services end up disconnecting or not enrolling for the programs
and services. Similarly, stigma has also been the most significant barrier to help-seeking for
Indigenous Australian population. One of the limitations of this article is that it does not embrace
inclusivity across all subgroups of people.
Another critical article by Isaksson, et., al, 2018, elaborates on how mental health service
seekers try to cope with stigma and discrimination from people around them. Similarly, for
Indigenous Australians, mental health seekers are discriminated as a result of stigma around
them. This article points out that discrimination and mental health stigma is are the most
significant problems faced during the provision of mental health services. The main aim of this
article is to challenge and educate people on the negative implications associated with mental
health stigma. Prevailing coping orientations such as concealing problems and challenges was an
essential part of the article.
This article is also relevant for our study since the cross-sectional method of survey was
used during the collection of data. Furthermore, the viewpoint survey was embraced to get the
views of the mental health-seekers on matters concerning discrimination and stigma. This article
is useful since it indicates that the linear regression method of analysis was applied to analyze the
data obtained. Linear regression analysis was used to identify the factors associated with stigma
and stigma coping orientation approaches.
The results of this article indicated that 73% of mental health problems were associated
with experienced discrimination and stigma. The other issues were also associated with mature
and anticipated discrimination. Stigma coping orientation strongly related mental health
problems to discrimination and stigma experienced by help seekers. Similarly, Corrigan, 2004
also shows that 15 years back, the situation was the same. People were too afraid of seeking help
due to fear of discrimination, like in the case of Indigenous Australians. It is an indication that
nothing has been done to change the situation since people have the same view of help-seeking,
even today. The limitation that this article has is that it considered people from one geographical
place, which is England.
Importantly, an article by Villatoro, et., al, 2018, notes that stigma also plays a role when
it comes to parental identification and recognition of poor mental health problems. This article
argues that parents have a significant role in monitoring evaluating mental health problems in
young ones, especially those in adolescents. Therefore, parents are among the key gatekeepers
and facilitators of mental health services and programs. However, parents also face stigma and
discrimination when it comes to upholding mental health services, making parental mental health
stigma and discrimination one of the barriers to the provision of quality mental health services.
The method used to compile the findings entailed the analysis of parents from schools.
Logistics regression was also used to examine the relationship between stigma and parental
recognition of mental health problems in their children, especially those of a young age. The

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methods and approaches used ensured that credible and valid results are obtained from the
research. This makes the article more relevant for our study.
The results from this article stated that most parents advised their children to distance
themselves from people with mental illnesses socially. The parents from the Indigenous
Australian community are also against a healthy social relationship between their children and
people with mental health problems around them. That is to say, and they should not
communicate or have any form of association. This is a clear form of discrimination which
results in stigma. By discriminating people with mental health problems, people will tend to
avoid exposing themselves by attending mental health services or programs. The main limitation
from the findings of this article is that it does not uphold diversity since it only focuses on
parents with children in schools.
Finally, an article by Benjenk, et., al, 2019, primarily addresses the issue of mental health
stigma in aging people who are facing mental health problems. This article also encourages all
registered nurses to be on the forefront in coordinating and providing appropriate interventions
concerning the provision of standard mental healthcare services. The nurses should also equip
students with the necessary skills that are required when facing the challenges associated with
mental health stigma and problems.
The information from this article is reliable and credible since in-depth interviews, and
qualitative study was applied to obtain the results. The results indicated that nursing students
tend to have a negative perception of patients with mental illnesses. Similarly, the findings from
Corrigan, 2004, also showed that most people distance themselves from people with mental
illnesses. The limitation of this research is that it does not encourage inclusivity and diversity.
The Impact of Stigma on Mental Health Service Utilization Today
Stigma and discrimination have a lot of negative impacts on the utilization of mental
health services today. One of the effects of shame is that it has deprived people the right to
quality mental health services. Being a barrier to access to medical services, stigma has resulted
in many mental disorders and conditions since people do not seek help soon. Another impact of
shame is that it lowers the victim's self-esteem. This makes it hard to find the right medical
interventions. Lastly, stigma deprives people in social opportunities available in society. For
instance, if people with mental disorders in the Indigenous Australia community are
discriminated, they won't be able to access basic needs such as shelter, clothing, and
accommodation.
Other barriers that hinder the provision of quality mental health services to Indigenous
Australians is the issue of low income and standards of living. Most Indigenous Australian are
not employed. Therefore, they cannot be able to raise enough for mental health-seeking. Another
challenge towards the provision of healthcare services to Indigenous Australians is low literacy
levels among the people. This makes it hard for healthcare providers to provide civic education
on the negative impacts of stigma.

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Conclusion
In conclusion, everyone needs to avoid discriminating people with mental problems in
society. Healthcare providers should ensure that they create public awareness on the negative
impacts associated with stigma and discrimination. Importantly, government and other agencies
should provide enough support and resources to enhance the provision of quality healthcare
services to marginalized people in the community such as the Indigenous Australians.

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References.
Benjenk, I., Buchongo, P., Amaize, A., Martinez, G. S., & Chen, J. (2019). Overcoming the dual
stigma of mental illness and aging: preparing new nurses to care for the mental health
needs of older adults. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 27(7), 664-674.
Clement, S., Schauman, O., Graham, T., Maggioni, F., Evans-Lacko, S., Bezborodovs, N., ... &
Thornicroft, G. (2015). What is the impact of mental health-related stigma on help-
seeking? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies. Psychological
medicine, 45(1), 11-27.
Isaksson, A., Corker, E., Cotney, J., Hamilton, S., Pinfold, V., Rose, D., ... & Evans-Lacko, S.
(2018). Coping with stigma and discrimination: evidence from mental health service
users in England. Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences, 27(6), 577-588.
Villatoro, A. P., DuPont-Reyes, M. J., Phelan, J. C., Painter, K., & Link, B. G. (2018). Parental
recognition of preadolescent mental health problems: Does stigma matter?. Social
Science & Medicine, 216, 88-96.