Exploring Stigma and Mental Illness: Causes and Effects

This essay delves into the multifaceted issue of mental illness stigma, exploring its origins, manifestations, and profound consequences on individuals, families, and communities. It defines stigma as a set of undesirable characteristics and examines how societal biases, stereotypes, and misconceptions contribute to discrimination and prejudice against those with mental illnesses. The essay discusses the impacts of stigma, including self-imposed limitations, denial of rights, and barriers to accessing social amenities. It also highlights the extension of stigma to family members, who often face stereotypes and discrimination. Furthermore, the essay explores the role of anti-stigma campaigns in challenging public perceptions and promoting understanding and acceptance of mental illness, emphasizing the need for approaches that involve those with lived experiences to effectively combat misconceptions and foster positive change. The essay draws on the work of various researchers, including Boyd, Corrigan, and Tomar to provide a comprehensive overview of the topic.

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Stigma of Mental Illness
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Stigma
Boyd, et al (2014) Stigma according to psychology refers to a badge or a set of
undesirable characteristics associated to a person or a group of people who has a distinct feature.
Stigma does not always mean that the person who is being stigmatized is wrong or
disadvantaged but at times it does. Stigma is mostly geared to people who has certain
characteristics or patterns of behavior that differs from the rest and it may develop to stereotypes
which form complete generalizations that are often taken as true. This paper reflects on the
concept of stigma and how stigma impacts to people living with mental illness, their families and
even their communities. The paper also reflects on the effect of anti-stigma campaigns in
reducing stigma.
Stigma is mainly formed based on visible characteristics, feelings or motives such as
race, religion, faith, creed, physical qualities such as deformities, beliefs and many other
characteristics associated with individuals such as class struggle and economic status. Stigma is
often characterized with bias and it is formed from imaginations and experiences. For instance
when a person interacts with a Muslim terrorist, they may end up saying or believing that all
Muslims are terrorists. Stigma is made and maintained by people who has little knowledge about
the subject and are therefore likely to believe in generalization, intuition and experiences with
certain people.
Corrigan, (2016) sociologists such as Emile Durkeim and Gerhard Falk criticized stigma
as taking society to be a society of saints which does not exist in reality. Gerhard Falk argued
that stigmas develop naturally from group solidarity and for the sake of ethics and morals.
Gerhard claasified stigmas in two categories which is the acquired stigma and that which is
natural. According to him, individuals acquire stigma either based on their conduct or by their

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nature. Other psychologists have however described stigma as developing from human’s urge to
distinguish and indicate variations of other human beings. They have also argued that cultural
beliefs will lead to stigma and also political power.
Stigma of mental illness and its impacts
People living with mental illnesses are often stigmatized by being labeled with certain
undesirable characteristics depending on the society. Some societies stigmatize people with
mental illness differently than others. In most societies, people with mental illness are regarded
as being helpless, destructive, violent and sometimes inhuman. They are therefore disregarded of
their rights to interact freely with fellow human beings, rights to work, a good life and even
disregard of their opinions or contributions. This extends to criminal justice whereby people with
mental illness cannot be convicted of a criminal offence.
There are several impacts of stigma on people living with mental illness. Just to begin
with, stigma brings too much suffering on the patients as they struggle with the conditions of
their illness, the signs and symptoms of the disease that they exhibit. The people suffer as they
try to suppress their unusual behaviors and they also suffer isolation from other people including
their family members. Mentally ill people are often regarded as mad and discriminated in public
places are well as avoided by people.
Tomar, Jensen, and Pace, (2015) mentally people also suffer self-imposed stigma and
prejudice as they are challenged about the misconceptions that people have about them and their
families and how they are treated by other people. Mentally ill people may live in self-denial
according to how they are treated by others. They often feel bad about their limitations that deny
them a free life as they are termed dangerous. Mentally ill people are also challenged with access

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to social amenities such as transport a fair treatment and equal rights despite increasing efforts to
treat them alike with other people. The main problems can be grouped into three which includes
prejudice, discrimination and stereotypes.
According to Fox, et al (2017) stigma for mental illness extends to family members of the
patient where the family is stereotyped and also discriminated in various extents. The family also
suffers prejudice for having a mentally ill patient. They also suffer consequences of the actions
of the mentally ill person. The family also suffers the stereotypes of the mentally ill person as
they are characterized as likely to develop the same condition. This may limit them the
opportunity to hold certain offices even when they have enough qualifications and they are
equally abled. The family also suffers the stereotypes and discrimination from other members of
the community who disregard mental illness.
Some of misconceptions that revolve around mental illness is that it results from curses.
A certain community may therefore believe that a certain person possess the mental illness
because the person was cursed by gods for involving themselves in something that is morally
acceptable. This association of mental illness with curses makes people believe that the curse
runs in the family and they therefore limit interactions with the patient’s family or regard the
family as moral perverts.
Flanagan, Farina, and Davidson, (2016) some religions have attributed mental illness
with sin and possession of evil spirits and demons. This misconception have also rendered
discrimination of the mentally ill people and their families the freedom to worship in some
places and some level of discrimination since they are regarded as sinners. In Christianity for
example, sinners have no right for eternal rest which they claim after living a righteous life.
Association of mental illness with sin therefore makes the mentally ill and their families to be

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discriminated as they are seen as sinners and people who have defied the moral code of religious
pursuits.
There is far more some level of discrimination to a society where there are many people
with mental illnesses. People in the larger community regard such a society as a society of mad
people. These people are associated with all forms of violence. And bad traits even by the free
press and the media. Such association may limit the larger society from interaction with the said
community due to uncertainties and lack of trust of the said people. The society also suffers due
to first hand encounter with such patients and the amount of time and efforts of medication and
giving the mentally ill a comfortable life (Hipes, et al 2016).
How anti stigma campaigns reduce stigma
Anti-stigma campaigns are frequently organized to change the people’s perspective and
attitude towards those living with mental illness (Seidman, 2014). These are organized due to the
profound consequences of stigma on the patients, their families and the society at large. Research
has proven that stigma is one of the aspects that stand in the way of healing of these patients.
Anti-stigma campaign through press and conferences are organized to change people’s
perspective towards mentally ill patients and the mental illness itself.
It has however been noted that the campaigns through the press are not as effective and
research has shifted the focus of these campaigns into looking at ways into which the campaign
can work more on involvement of people with mental illnesses with those that do not have in a
bid to generate first had information to counter the misconceptions revolving around mental
health. This is because even professors and health workers who has too much knowledge of

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mental illness or those people who has first-hand experience from the patients still hold
unwavering misconceptions of the same.

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REFERENCES
Boyd, J.E., Adler, E.P., Otilingam, P.G. and Peters, T., 2014. Internalized Stigma of Mental
Illness (ISMI) scale: a multinational review. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 55(1), pp.221-231.
Corrigan, P.W. and Al-Khouja, M.A., 2018. Three agendas for changing the public stigma of
mental illness. Psychiatric rehabilitation journal, 41(1), p.1.
Corrigan, P.W., 2016. Lessons learned from unintended consequences about erasing the stigma
of mental illness. World Psychiatry, 15(1), pp.67-73.
Corrigan, P.W., Druss, B.G. and Perlick, D.A., 2014. The impact of mental illness stigma on
seeking and participating in mental health care. Psychological Science in the Public
Interest, 15(2), pp.37-70.
Corrigan, P.W., Larson, J.E. and Michaels, P.J., 2015. Coming Out Proud to Erase the Stigma of
Mental Illness: Storeis and Essays of Solidarity. Instant Publisher.
Flanagan, E., Farina, A. and Davidson, L., 2016. Does Stigma Towards Mental Illness Affect
Initial Perceptions of Peer Providers?. Psychiatric Quarterly, 87(1), pp.203-210.
Fox, A.B., Earnshaw, V.A., Taverna, E.C. and Vogt, D., 2017. Conceptualizing and Measuring
Mental Illness Stigma: The Mental Illness Stigma Framework and Critical Review of
Measures. Stigma and Health.
Hipes, C., Lucas, J., Phelan, J.C. and White, R.C., 2016. The stigma of mental illness in the labor
market. Social science research, 56, pp.16-25.
Seidman, L.J., 2014. Stigma and mental illness. Asian journal of psychiatry, 9, pp.1-2.

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Tomar, N., Jensen, T. and Pace, N., 2015. Occupations as vehicle for social change: Assessment
of a multi-faceted intervention to reduce stigma towards mental illness.