It’s taken a while, but the stigma about mental illness is slowly fading in this country. That’s thanks to the educational efforts of the psychiatric community, the advocacy of groups such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness and, perhaps most of all, personal exposure.
According to a survey released by the American Psychological Association, 87 percent of adult polled recently said a mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of; 81 percent said they would be comfortable being friends with someone with a mental health disorder; and 79 percent would be at ease interacting with such a person.
The level of comfort was directly related to whether the person surveyed had ever suffered from mental illness or knew someone with a mental disorder. Forty-two percent of those who had no personal experience with mental illness said they were afraid of people with mental disorders, compared to about 28 percent of those who have had such exposure.
Mental illness is tough, not just on those who are afflicted but also their family members. But it’s like anything else. The more you know about it, the better equipped you are to deal with it.
Minimizing the stigma is helpful for everyone involved.
People who are suffering from a mental disorder are more likely to seek treatment if they think they won’t be ostracized for it, and family members feel strengthened when they know they are not alone in dealing with a loved one’s illness.
As a society, we’re not quite to where people think of mental illness the same as a physical illness, but we’re getting closer to it. Advances in science will help, too, as the medicines for correcting the misfirings in the brain continue to improve and make the manifestations of mental illness less obvious.
According to NAMI, about one in five adults experiences at least a mild form of mental illness in a given year.
Besides a doctor’s care, what they most need is compassion and kindness.
