This might involve, for example, promoting mental health literacy, challenging harmful gender norms, and providing gender-specific mental health services. We can move toward a more equitable and effective mental health care system by acknowledging and addressing the unique stigma-related challenges different groups face. Mental health stigma involves negative attitudes and beliefs about people with mental health issues, resulting in discrimination and social isolation. It’s essential to address and reduce this stigma for better support and understanding of mental health. It’s essential to ensure that people with mental health challenges have the same rights and opportunities as anyone else.

Olivine is a Texas-based psychologist with over a decade of experience serving clients in the clinical setting and private practice. Black men, especially, receive the message to be strong and to deal with problems on their own. This masking of issues can lead to greater symptoms of anxiety and depression and to self-medicating through substances, such as drugs or alcohol. What follows is not an exhaustive list that covers every community or every barrier they face, but rather, broad descriptions to show cultural patterns. Women with children can fear being labeled unfit mothers if they are experiencing depression or anxiety. Charlene and Graham entered the world of stigma reduction from different perspectives – Graham as care provider, Charlene as care user.

Impact of Stigma on People with Mental Illness

It was reported that various negative effects of stigma, such as delay in seeking help and acceptance of treatment, are widely prevalent in that region. Moreover, fewer opportunities for education, employment, and social contacts, or difficulties in finding accommodation for mentally ill patients are also evident in those countries. Although hampered in adjusting to the European Union standards since 2007, the legislations regarding mental health in Romania were altered and updated more on a theoretical but not practical basis 26. Study results demonstrated that self-stigma is less frequent in the Romanian community compared to Malta, Croatia, and Lithuania, but higher than in the Swedish community 27.

What does the evidence say?

Programs connecting mental health educators with journalists can get topics covered accurately. Health care costs and poor communication from providers can be issues for some, as there is a known shortage of Spanish-speaking or bilingual providers. This rate drops dramatically when transgender people can access gender-affirming medical care.

Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health

Mental health stigma can either be public stigma, self-stigma, or a combination of the two. The toolkit is undergoing expert consultation, being most recently presented to participants of the “Workshop on leadership and service transformation in mental health” in Brussels, Belgium on 22–23 May 2024. “Social contact can allow the target group to attach more agency to the person with a mental condition and show more empathy towards them,” says Graham. The problem is that correcting knowledge does not necessarily reduce prejudice; “The evidence is extremely weak,” Graham says. An advocate is a trained professional who supports the rights of others who may not have the strength or knowledge to do so on their own.

They may help someone with employment disputes, medical appointments, financial claims, and housing problems. Visit our dedicated hub for more research-backed information and resources on mental health and well-being. Christine Carville, LCSW-R, is the co-founder and Chief Clinical Officer of Resilience Lab. Christine developed the Resilience Methodology, a trans-theoretical training model for therapists to provide individualized, flexible, trauma-informed care. She has also been teaching at the Columbia School of Social Work since 2016 and continues to maintain her own private psychotherapy practice.

How can I help reduce mental health stigma in my community?

• Research shows that a person’s comfort level with U.S. mental health treatment can vary by generation.
• They sought to raise community awareness of mental health issues and address the pressing need to change the way the public views those who suffer from mental illness 28.
• Of adults with serious mental health conditions, 57% of those under the age of 25 did not get any treatment (approximately 276,000).
• The study by Pinfold et al., (2003) implemented educational interventions in UK secondary schools, consisting of video presentations and direct social contact with individuals who had personal experiences with mental illness 25.
• This rate drops dramatically when transgender people can access gender-affirming medical care.

They can reduce stigma by sharing stories of everyday people with mental health challenges. Stereotypes include beliefs that people are responsible for their mental health issues or that those with mental health conditions are more likely to be dangerous. Stigma against mental illness can come from several sources, such as personal, social, and family beliefs, and from the mental health condition itself, which may cause a person to act outside what is considered the social or cultural norm. The pressure of mental health stigma can come from family, friends, coworkers, and society on a broader level. It can prevent people living with mental illness from getting help, fitting into society, or leading happy, comfortable lives.

Mental Health in the LGBTQ, Black, and Asian Communities

Evidence-based interventions, including education, contact-based interventions, and culturally sensitive practices can help overcome these barriers. Mental health providers should strive to develop cultural competence and deliver culturally sensitive interventions to meet the needs of diverse populations. Research to understand the impact of stigmatization of mental health patients and its impact in providing services is warranted. Reducing mental illness stigma is critical to providing equitable, effective, and compassionate psychiatric care to individuals with mental illness. For instance, self-stigma refers to a person’s negative attitude toward their mental illness and is also known as internalized stigma 15-17.

The term “stigma” is derived from the ancient Greek language, which means a symbol of shame, humiliation, and devaluation. Additionally, stigma is defined as the attitude by which the reaction of some people toward others could destroy their confidence and identity 1. Stigma may also cause people to refrain from asking for help, worsening their condition, leading to further isolation and dysfunctional coping mechanisms. If you’re interested in becoming a participant in McLean’s Deconstructing Stigma campaign, learn more about how you can share your mental health story. While Asian Americans have many strengths to draw on, such as family, community, and religion, they can face their own unique challenges. This expectation means men are far less likely to seek help than women, but also have increased rates of depression and suicide.

By doing so, we can work towards improving access to mental health care and promoting the well-being of individuals and communities across the globe. Another approach to overcoming the barriers created by stigma is to use evidence-based methods to reduce mental illness stigma. A meta-analysis by Corrigan et al. (2016) found that various evidence-based interventions, including education and contact-based interventions, can effectively reduce mental illness stigma across cultures 9.

Social contact remains a strong approach to disconfirming stereotypes, diminishing anxiety, heightening empathy, and improving understanding of recovery. Additionally, skills-based training also holds potential value as a model for decreasing stigma. It focuses on improving confidence, comfort, and understanding of mental illnesses 30.

• Stigma could take the form of thoughts, beliefs, impressions, and judgments with no certain actions.
• Crucial components that could reduce stigma in healthcare contexts have also been recognized.
• The policies or culture of an organization toward stigmatized people, such as those with mental health issues, is referred to as institutional stigma.
• According to a 2023 review, various factors, including societal norms, individual values, and cultural differences, can affect mental health stigma.
• The vast majority of people with mental health disorders are not violent, not criminal, and not dangerous.

Mental health stigma can involve stereotypes, which are simplified or generalized beliefs or representations of entire groups of people that are often inaccurate, negative, and offensive. A stigma is a negative and often unfair social attitude attached to a person or group, usually shaming them for a perceived deficiency or difference in their existence. The Latinx community is diverse and includes people from 20 different countries, including the U.S. Stigma is even more difficult in communities or cultural groups where people experience additional, unique stressors.

Through education and understanding, we can eliminate the stigma around mental illness, and there is support available to people who are currently experiencing stigma. Public education to increase knowledge around mental illness is important, since stigma can come from a lack of understanding and misplaced fear. According to Mental health stigma a 2024 study, more than 1 in 10 people worldwide ages 5 to 24 years have a mental health condition.

Social stigma exacerbates mental health problems by creating barriers to diagnosis and treatment. People facing stigma may withdraw from social interactions and avoid seeking necessary support, which can worsen their mental health condition. Discrimination in various areas of life, such as employment and healthcare, further compounds the challenges faced by those with mental health concerns. The roots of mental health stigma are deeply entrenched in societal attitudes and cultural beliefs. For instance, people with anxiety are frequently labeled as weak or overly sensitive, rather than being acknowledged for the genuine challenges they face. Similarly, people with schizophrenia are often unfairly portrayed as violent or dangerous, despite the fact that most people with this condition are not a threat to others.