Ihediwa 1

Adannaya Ihediwa
Mrs. Greene
Capstone 7
20 September 2016

A mental illness can be defined as a wide range of conditions that affect mood, thinking,
or behavior. There are many mental illnesses varying from eating disorders to schizophrenia,
although they all vary greatly when it comes to the symptoms associated with each, they all face
a similar stigma. Stigma against mental disorders dates back to thousands of years ago; there are
many examples of this discrimination in ancient books of law (Wig). Due to the lack of
knowledge on this subject, those with mental illness must counteract this stigma which causes
many setbacks for them besides the illness itself.
There are two areas where the stigma associated with mental illness has the most affect,
the area that sets them back the most is the institutional stigma. The effects of institutional
stigma tend to affect areas such as school, the workplace, and other governmental areas of life.
These effects are brutal because they deal with the injustice that those with mental disorders
must face everyday. According to Lai, about 73% patients with schizophrenia have had trouble
finding a job, similarly, about 44% of patients with depression found trouble find a job. This is
because the stigma associated with mental illnesses are also associated with traits that are
unwanted in the workplace such as laziness, and lack of motivation. This data also supports the
fact that the unemployment rate for those with mental illness is much higher than the national
unemployment rate. This leads to mass homelessness, lack of money for medicine and other

medical needs, and further stigmatization since they are not getting the appropriate help/support
they need. Lai's study also revealed that 40% of mental health patients were rejected for
insurance. This is another huge problem because those with mental illnesses need insurance the
most because its primary purpose, in the medical field, is to lower the cost of both healthcare and
medicine; considering that they need more health care services than your average person (i.e.
therapy, rehabilitation, medicines, regular check-ups). Due to these two major effects of the
institutional stigma, many mental illness patients are left to get worse because they simply do not
have the funds. Other than the health area, mental health patients also have trouble in "spheres of
life like job, housing, marriage, immigration etc., thus greatly reducing the opportunities for the
mentally ill for their rightful participation in the society." (Wig, Stigma Against Mental Illness).
In all areas of life it is common to find that those with mental illness are mistreated, and are not
given the same rights as those without them. Thus, they are put at an extreme disadvantage
without being given the chance to succeed or fail in the first place. Besides the disadvantages
that those with mental illness face, they also are mistreated by the same places that are supposed
to help them. According to Hinshaw and Craig, special education and juvenile detention facilities
have committed numerous inhumane acts against those with mental illnesses. Despite the fact
that those who are placed in these type of facilities are often children, they get treated with little
respect and may even suffer inhumane conditions.
Although the institutional stigma is more influential when it comes to the setbacks those
with mental illnesses face, the social stigma affects them daily and can have disastrous effects on
their health. When referring to the social stigma, the effects are more harmful to the person
themselves rather than their role in society. In fact there is a tendency to maintain social

distance from the mentally ill and to reject them" (Wig, Stigma Against Mental Illness). The
biggest effect of the social stigma associated with mental illness is the shame felt by not only the
person afflicted, but their loved ones, and even health professionals. According to Byrne, a study
revealed that about 50% of parents and spouses have made an attempt to hide the illness from
others. The problem with this is that shame leads to secrecy, and secrecy means that the patient is
not getting the appropriate help they need. When it comes to psychological disorders, shame in
combination with lack of treatment can lead to the development of more mental illnesses,
particularly depression. It has been proven that poorer outcomes in chronic mental disorders are
likely when patients' social networks are reduced. (Byrne, Stigma of mental illness and ways of
diminishing it). When patients are not able to have people they can confide in because their
loved ones are ashamed of them, this causes the person to feel as if they are alone in their
struggle. This is why it is crucial that mental illness patients have a solid support system of
family and friends. Without them, even a minor mental illness can develop into something much
more.
Mental illnesses cause many negative effects on their own. The people you suffer from
them have to fight a battle everyday to push through the symptoms and attempt to live a normal
life. By stigmatizing these people, we are not only giving them even more battles to fight daily,
but we are also pushing them further away from society which can lead them to quit at living a
normal life. Because of this we as a society need to end the stigmatization of those with mental
illnesses.

Works Cited
Byrne, P. (n.d.). Stigma of mental illness and ways of diminishing it | BJPsych Advances.
Retrieved September 13, 2016
Hinshaw, Stephen P., and Craig Heflinger Anne. "Professional Training and Institutional
Disaster." The Uncertain Profession Harvard and the Search for Educational Authority
(n.d.).
Vanderbilt University. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
Lai, Hong, & Chee. (n.d.). Stigma of Mental Illness. Stigma of Mental Illness,42(3), 111-114.
Retrieved September 1, 2016.
Wig, N. N. (n.d.). Stigma Against Mental Illness. Indian Psychiatry Journal, 39(3), 187-189.
Retrieved September 1, 2016.