May is Mental Health Awareness Month. The goal of the month is to bring awareness to and battle the stigma surrounding mental health.
Given the day and age, it feels crazy to think that there is still a battle to be had with the stigma surrounding mental health, but there is. It still has a negative connotation and many people out there simply do not understand that mental health issues are real problems that others face.
The Problem with Mental Health Stigma
The mental health stigma causes many issues in society that you may not even realize if you haven’t faced a mental health concern.
One is that people can discriminate against those who have mental health concerns. This means they could have fewer opportunities in the workforce and also have more trouble at school.
The discrimination can also cause isolation for those with mental health concerns since people may distance themselves from them if they know they have concerns. Similarly, if a person battling a mental health issue senses that people are discriminating against them, they may isolate themselves, which can cause further issues.
The mental health stigma also prevents people from seeking the treatment they need because feelings of embarrassment or shame come up because society has such a negative take on seeking help for these issues.
Fighting Mental Health Stigma
The National Alliance on Mental Illness lists 9 Ways to Fight Mental Health Stigma , some of which are summarized here.
Talk About Mental Health
One of the best ways to help battle mental health stigma is to talk about it. Share your experience with it, if you have one.
Talk openly about your treatment with others – in the same way you would discuss treatment for heart disease or diabetes.
Doing this can normalize receiving treatment for mental health, whether that be through therapy and/or medication.
Sharing your experience can help encourage others who may be struggling to seek the help they deserve.
Education on Mental Health
Another great way to fight mental health stigma is to educate both yourself and others.
One way of doing this is through sharing your experience and talking about mental health.
The other is to actively seek out education on mental health and learn facts that you can pass on to others if it should come up in conversation.
Learn about the symptoms of various mental health struggles – such as anxiety and depression. Also learn the treatment options. Then, if someone should approach you to share their struggle, you can help recognize the struggle for what it is and know best how to help them.
If you find yourself a part of a conversation where someone makes a negative comment about mental health, remind them respectfully that they wouldn’t make a comment like that if it were about heart disease or cancer and that mental health is no different.
Another part of this education can be encouraging equality between physical and mental health concerns. If someone were to seek a doctor’s assistance for a physical health concern no one would question it, and it should be the same for mental health.
Show Compassion
Listen to your family/friends if they are struggling and want to talk. Similarly, if you see someone struggling, reach out to them to let them know you are there.
If you see someone posting on social media in a way that concerns you, reply to them in a kind and compassionate way to let them know you are, even if it is from afar. You never know how much a small kindness like that can impact someone else.
Make sure you treat those who have mental health issues with the same level of respect as you would everyone else (tying back into not discriminating that was mentioned above as an issue).
Self-Compassion
Another facet of compassion is to have self-compassion if you are struggling with mental health. This could mean addressing the same you might feel towards yourself for experiencing mental health concerns.
I’ve heard that one of the best ways to deal with feelings of shame is to get it all out there and talk about it, so share your experience. Through doing so, you might learn that someone else is having a similar struggle and you might feel less alone.
Self-compassion is an area I’m still working on to this day. It’s a struggle to be compassionate with myself when I’m struggling instead of judging myself for not being able to do better, especially with the tools I’ve learned.
Do What You Can to Help Battle Mental Health Stigma
I encourage you to do what you can to help battle mental health stigma.
That might mean starting with you and working on self-compassion if you are experiencing struggles. It could mean sharing your story and educating others on what your experience was like.
You can also check out websites to educate yourself and learn information to share with others. Suggestions are:
- National Alliance on Mental Health Illness
- MentalHealth.gov
- CAMH.ca
- The Mental Wellness Awareness Association
If you can, you could encourage your workplace to offer “lunch and learns” about mental health, possibly through the workplace EAP program. My workplace started doing this when Covid started as a way to support people through the difficult times and I found it extremely encouraging.
Finally, support those around you. You never know what someone may be going through.
