You may have the first thought of a word that I am talking about….but let’s see if you picked it out. Stigma, stigma is the “S” word that I am referring to. You may know about mental health stigma because you have found us. This is one of the biggest hurdles that people have to overcome to decide to reach out. This is really an exciting time to be in this field because there has been so much positive activity in changing the way that mental health is viewed (we still have so far to go, but progress is progress!). I remember having a conversation with someone and I mentioned, “We all have mental health”.
They looked at me like I had two heads and then took a step back with a confused gaze in their eyes. After a few seconds, they said, ”Ohhhhh you said health, I thought you said illness”. The word mental is more often connected with illness rather than a spectrum of health that it actually is. Think about it, we all experience good days, bad days, frustration, nervousness, anger, etc. at some point in our life. Just like physical health, we have mental health.
There is a spectrum of well to unwell in both. This has contributed to the Stigma that when we say the word “mental” that it’s automatically negative. There is an active movement to change this and that is exciting and hopeful”. The nice thing is that we all, as an individual person can positively contribute to stigma. Something as simple as changing the word illness to health unless you are actually referring to a diagnosed disorder. 1 in 5 people in the US are living with a mental health condition (SAMHSA) so it may be more prevalent than you may have thought. If you are around a person who may be going through a challenging time, just offering your time to lend an ear, go for coffee, or even just to be there is support if you do not know the words or how to ask what they need. A sense of connectedness can make a world of a difference to someone who is experiencing a challenging time. Progress is progress- if you make just one step in the positive direction to reduce stigma, you too can also be a part of the movement. We are all in this together.
