" Psychology and Life " excerpt
Chapter 14 Psychological Disorders
Section 8 The Stigma of Mental Illness
Author/Richard Grigg Philip Zimbardo
2022.09.16
★Stigma
is an indecent mark or tag. In psychological terms, it is a complete set of negative attitudes against an individual, which will make others exclude him or her from the normal ranks.
★ Negative attitudes to individuals with psychological disorders come from many aspects: the mass media describes mentally ill patients as criminally prone; jokes about mentally ill patients can be accepted; families are reluctant to recognize the mental pain of their members; judicial terms emphasize mentally ill patients lacking capacity. People also hide their own history of psychological pain or mental illness, which also tarnishes themselves.
★How the stigma of mental illness has negative impact on people's lives in many aspects.
A study selected 84 male patients hospitalized for mental illness, of which 6% reported losing their jobs due to hospitalization, 10% reported refusal to rent a house to them, 37% reported avoiding them, and 45% reported that others had used their history of mental illness to harm their relationship. Only 6% of male patients reported no exclusion incidents. After a year of treatment, this group of male patients has greatly improved their mental health. Even so, their perception of stigma has not improved: despite their significant improvement in function, patients still do not expect to be treated more kindly in the world. Research like
shows that many patients with psychological disorders have a great duality of experience: seeking help (making their problems labeled) generally leads to symptom relief, but on the other hand, it also brings stigma; treatment leads to improved quality of life, while stigma reduces quality of life.
★People with mental illness often internalize their expectations of being rejected or rejected, and this expectation brings negative interactions.
★When people believe that others put the label of "mental illness" on their heads, the way they communicate with others changes, and they themselves feel uncomfortable: the expectation of being rejected can cause rejection, and mental illness can become another unfortunate self-fulfilling prophecy in life.
★ Studies show that people who have dealt with mental illnesses have less attitudes toward stigma.
For example, let some students read stories about a man named Jim recovering from schizophrenia , and those who have dealt with some mental illnesses are more optimistic about Jim's future. Similarly, if students have ever been exposed to schizophrenia patients, their assessment of their risk will be reduced.
