Anti-Stigma and Discrimination
“Due to fear of discrimination, I bottle things up because of the lack of understanding from people around me”One in four of us will experience mental distress/mental illness at some point in our lifetime. Mental distress affects people of all ages, in all kinds of jobs and at all educational levels. Depending on the individual, mental distress can take different forms; to not coping on a daily basis, feeling low emotionally, suffering from panic attacks to being clinically depressed.
“Service users can suffer judgement about themselves, due to lack of understanding from others. This results in me not being able to talk openly about my mental ill-health which in turn can impede recovery”As an organisation, Hunts Mind wants to identify negative attitudes towards people with mental ill-health in order to promote anti-stigma and anti-discrimination. Service users are at the heart of Hunts Mind and we believe that all people have potential. The Well Life project, run by Hunts Mind, is part of the national Time to Change programme; which aims to create a measureable shift in public attitudes towards mental ill-health. Through education and awareness raising within communities, and using service user’s experiences, the Well Life project aims to challenge the negative attitudes that surround mental ill-health.
“Neighbours avoid speaking to you as they don’t know what to say. This can make you feel isolated”Stigma is a reality for people with a mental illness, and they report that how others judge them is one of their greatest barriers to a recovery. Fear and rejection is one of the commonest reactions that people suffering from mental illness report.
“I avoid telling friends about my mental ill-health because they don’t always know what to say and sometimes this can make me feel worse” The topic of stigma and discrimination is receiving increasing attention due to the negative impact it can have on individuals, communities and society. Stigma and discrimination can:
- Prevent people seeking help
- Delay treatment
- Impair recovery
- Isolate people
- Exclude people from day to day activities
- Prevent people getting jobs
- Prevent people from getting adequate housing
(adapted from Stigma Shout Magazine 2008)
Self discrimination can also be reported by people suffering my mental ill-health. Due to their illness they can sometimes believe that they are not good enough as a person, not good enough to get a job or succeed in learning.
