The Line Between Stigma and Discrimination
Among communities impacted by mental illness, stigma and discrimination are ever-present. In fact, 90% of people affected by what is commonly called mental illness report that stigma and discrimination have a negative effect on their lives. This makes stigma and discrimination by far one of the most common challenges impacting individuals with mental illness, surpassing healthcare, relationship building, or maintaining employment.
We want to help educate individuals on what stigma and discrimination are, the ways that they manifest, and the social and legal ramifications of both.
Stigma
Stigma is a negative view because of a mental health condition, and it manifests in two main ways.
Public stigma involves the negative or discriminatory attitudes that others may have about mental illness. This includes adopting stereotypical beliefs such as that those with mental illness are dangerous or untrustworthy.
Even without hostile action, public stigma makes individuals less likely to confide in others about issues with their mental health and build a support system. This can be absolutely detrimental to recovery. Public stigma may also in and of itself also cause distress, which can exacerbate negative conditions of mental health and wellness.
Self-stigma refers to the internalized negative attitudes, including shame, that people with mental illness may have about their own condition.
Individuals with mental illness are not immune to the negative narratives about mental health around them. Internalizing the belief that they’re broken, dangerous, or not to be trusted, people struggling with their mental health may be afraid to seek treatment because of what they think it will mean about them. The story of self, impacted by self-stigma, is often a critical obstacle to care and recovery.
Discrimination
While stigma focuses on damaging beliefs, discrimination is about negative action. For example discrimination is when an individual or group is overtly treated poorly on the basis of their mental health. This is a serious concern for individuals with mental illness. Discrimination against individuals with disabilities often presents as stemming from one of two root stigmas.
Criminalization: Criminalization is often rooted in the idea that the disabled or mentally ill are faking it, dangerous, not or be trusted, or trying to manipulate the system by requesting reasonable accommodations.
Criminalization is often the background attitude used to deny educational, recreational, or employment opportunities to those experiencing mental health challenges on the basis of perceived social immorality stemming from the accommodations requested. Phased differently, criminalization leads to the discrimination of treating mentally ill individuals like they’ve done something wrong by experiencing mental health challenges.
Infantilization: Infantilization is an attitude of patronization or condescension towards those with mental illness or disability. Infantilization is rooted in the idea that people with mental health challenges are simply not capable at all, rather than having additional challenges that can be navigated with accommodation.
Infantilization is a “plastic knives only” attitude that is then weaponized to exclude those with mental illness from job opportunities, social spaces, or educational experiences because it would be “too much for them.”
The Law
One key difference between discrimination and stigma is the fact that discrimination is illegal.
Under federal law, individuals with mental health conditions are protected from unfair treatment on the basis of their condition. If your school, organization, or employer is discriminating against you on the basis of your condition you have a right to seek legal recourse.
If you think you’re experiencing discrimination here are three steps to take:
Document everything. Make sure to keep a detailed record of all discriminatory incidents including screenshots, emails, memos, texts, dates, times, locations and witnesses.
Contact Human Resources, Disability services, or equivalent. Despite individually discriminatory actors, most schools, universities, or organizations take a hardline stance against discrimination. Provide them with your evidence and make sure to follow up. Make sure to document any retaliation.
Contact the appropriate government organization. Reach out to your state’s civil rights department, the equal opportunity commission, or an equivalent governing organization to handle your discrimination case.
Consult an Attorney. Speak to a lawyer who has handled discrimination and disability rights to go over your best options for legal recourse.
Conclusion
Stigma involves negative views and can often lead to discriminatory actions, although both stigma and discrimination can damage opportunities and quality of life for those experiencing challenges with mental health.
While the ways we respond to discrimination may be formal and involve governing bodies, the ways to prevent it in the first place are much more informal. By promoting open conversation, educational resources, and community connection, we can all help create a more inclusive and just world for everyone.
Let’s address discrimination and stigma at their root, and prevent them from having a negative impact on what amounts to hundreds of millions of people.
As always, thank you for your part in saving the world,
Usorum
We’re Usorum. We create peer-to-peer and bottom-up conversations for nonprofit communities. We do this by hosting 'brainstorms' for nonprofit organizations, where they can ask their community to engage digitally around a common topic. For those nonprofits who want to, the brainstorm can also serve as a fundraising and a volunteer recruitment tool. Our second offer is an ongoing digital forum for the communities serviced across nonprofits, with a culture of people directly supporting each other and providing their techniques on adversity into a shared lived experience library. If you believe in community engagement, check us out at Usorum.com
