Sacking Stigmas - Where is the Looooove?

Scrolling through the news on my phone as I trek across campus to Bio, I come across yet another tragic event resulting in several innocent deaths and one misunderstood person to blame for it all. “He heard voices in his head”, reads the article, he was “delusional” with a “troubled mental health history” (http://abcnews.go.com/US/navy-yard-shooter-aaron-alexis-expected-killed/story?id=20373025.) This time it was Aaron Alexis and the Washington Navy Yard tragedy, the time before that it was Adam Lanza at Newtown, and before that it was James Holmes at the Dark Knight movie premiere. Every time the media exploits mass shootings, we learn that the shooter was sick in the head, that something didn’t tick quite right, that there was a wire missing. The media coverage of these tragedies isolates and embarrasses individuals with mental illnesses and evokes irrational fear among society; a more informed society can diminish stigmas surrounding mental illnesses. Additionally, a public campaign featuring celebrities endorsing mental illness awareness will foster accepting attitudes in society and spur confidence among mentally ill individuals.

Leo Tolstoy, Oprah Winfrey, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Biggie Smalls and many others have all stated some variation of this cliché quote: “In order to change the world, we must start with ourselves.” While this quote may be trite and overused, it does have merit. A public campaign inspiring each individual to alter their mindset about mental disorders is more effective than one that permeates to the masses. The public campaign must do this by offering a personal example of a well-known and well-liked celebrity that has a mental illness. Respected celebrities such as Emma Watson or Natalie Portman can endorse the campaign and act as positive role models. Even if they are not affected with a mental disorder themselves, they can share an experience that they have had with mental illness and promote mental health awareness. This will allow people to feel a personal connection to mental illnesses and drive them to realize that a mental illness can affect anyone. Once individuals realize that depression, OCD, and schizophrenia are legitimate illnesses and do not classify a person as “crazy”, then the stigmas attached to mental illnesses will disappear. Seeing mental illnesses in a personal context will spark individuals to begin to view people with mental illnesses for what they are - people, just like them.

With public acceptance and concern for mental illnesses, doctors will be more likely to understand the severity of them. This public campaign not only impacts the general public, but medical professionals as well.  

Photo by: Vic

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59632563@N04/

According to Rost's study, The Deliberate Misdiagnosis of Major Depression in Primary Care, 50% of medical professionals have admitted to diagnosing a patient with an illness that was not depression despite the fact that they met the criteria for major depression (Rost). Additionally, when treating patients for a mental illness, many patients do not receive proper treatment. In fact, only about 15% of Mexican Americans and African Americans with a mental illness actually receive treatment that is in concordance with depression guidelines (Gonzalez, Depression Care in the United States, Too Little, Too Few). Physicians’ lack of attention and consideration when diagnosing and treating mental illnesses shows just how little regard they have. Doctors need to treat mental illnesses for what they are - a disease. When mental illnesses become respected as a disease, then more research will the be funded to better treat and one day cure mental disorders.

A public campaign extending to all media and social networking outlets such as television shows, Twitter, Facebook, and news channels will have the greatest impact on people with mental illnesses.

Photo by: Tanja Scherm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/frauhoelle/

This public campaign will cultivate unity among those with mental disorders and encourage them to seek treatment without feeling ashamed. Nearly half of all people suffering from a severe mental illness do not seek treatment
(http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/101/5/e66.full). They do not want to be seen as a “loony person” and believe that admitting to needing treatment would also mean admitting that they are “crazy” to other people. Society must adopt an accepting and indiscriminate attitude towards mental disorders in order to promote self-assurance among mental illness patients. Mental health patients will feel empowered to share their experiences when they realize that having a mental illness is not a fault of their own. 

A public campaign will act as a catalyst in a chain reaction for altering the perception of mental illnesses by inciting awareness, encouraging tolerance and harboring understanding. It will first alter the mindset of people who do not have a mental disorder and broaden their mindset towards mental illnesses. This will encourage people with mental illnesses to seek treatment and to open up about their mental disorder so that others may empathize with their circumstances.

Photo by: zim2411

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zim2411/

Doctors will begin to treat and diagnose mental illnesses with more deliberation and attentiveness, which will in effect cause more people with mental illnesses to receive effective treatment. If this reaction reaches its full potential, then we can boost funding for mental illness research. We can deter the media from sensationalizing mental illnesses involved in mass shootings. We can eliminate the trend of tragedies in the news that we read about too often involving a person with a mental illness that never received proper treatment. We can diminish the stigmas surrounding mental illnesses and it all starts with you.