Stigma Reduction

Stop Discrimination Toward People with Mental Illness

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In a recent post, I discussed “5 Simple Steps to Reduce Stigma About Mental Illness.” In case you missed it, the 5 steps were: 1) Don’t label people who have a mental illness. Use ‘person-first’ language. For example, say “she has schizophrenia” instead of “she’s a schizophrenic.” 2) Don’t be afraid of people with mental illness. Despite inaccurate media stereotypes, people with mental illness aren’t scary or prone to violence. 3) Don’t use disrespectful terms for people with mental illness. …

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5 Simple Steps to Reduce Stigma About Mental Illness

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If you tune into any conversation about mental illness and addiction, it won’t be very long until the term “stigma” comes up. Stigma has various definitions, but they all refer to negative attitudes, beliefs, descriptions, language or behavior. In other words, stigma can translate into disrespectful, unfair, or discriminatory patterns in how we think, feel, talk and behave towards individuals experiencing a mental illness. If you begin to wonder where stigma comes from, that’s a complicated question. It’s almost like …

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