Decreasing stigma of mental illness

By:Sarah Zanelli and Carly Szewczyk

What exactly is a mental illness or disorder?

• It is a behavioral or psychological problem which starts with either emotional distress or abnormal behavior

• There are two different types of mental illnesses: Psychoses and Neuroses.

psychoses

• It’s a major illness with symptoms such as; delusions and hallucinations.

This includes:– Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Neuroses

• It is a less severe illness and it is much easier to treat.

• This includes:– Anxiety, OCD, post-traumatic stress disorder, and

depression.

Stigmas of mental illness

• Assumptions that a person with a mental illness could be harmful or dangerous.

• It could be a negative comment on a persons mental illness or a treatment that they happen to be getting for the illness.

The effects of stigma

• The person may be rejected by friends and family.

• Being harassed and made fun of for something the person cannot do anything about.

• The refusal to get treatment for their mental illness.

• The person with the mental illness might even pretend that nothing is wrong.

From a personal experience..

• Before this past summer I had never been in contact with someone who had a mental illness. At camp I met a staff member named Dan, unbeknownst to me was a schizophrenic. We spent a lot of time talking and getting to know one another. I did not find out about his illness until one of the other staff members told me about his condition a day before I left camp. Dan had to be one of the nicest people I have ever met, it just goes to show that you shouldn’t judge people before you get to know them.