Mental Health Stigmas

Understanding Mental Health Stigmas

The mental health stigmas list is long. A stigma is something or someone that is viewed negatively. Perceptions of stigmas are often difficult to change.

Despite how common mental health disorders are, people still experience stigmas of being viewed in a negative way. That stigma can prevent them from getting help in the first place.

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What are the Effects of Mental Health Stigmas?

When someone has a mental illness, it can lead to discrimination. Discrimination can be direct and apparent. For example, people might make comments directly to you about your mental illness. There can also be subtle discrimination. For example, people might avoid you because they believe you’re dangerous due to your mental illness. You may find that you feel these stigmas about yourself.

The effects of stigmas can be far-reaching. They can include not only being unwilling to get help but also feeling lonely and isolated. You may feel that you have fewer professional or educational opportunities available to you. You could experience bullying or harassment. You may hold the belief that you won’t succeed because of your condition.

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Types of Stigma

There are generally two types of mental health stigmas. First, there is a social stigma on the mental health stigmas list. Social stigmas can result in discrimination. Then, there’s perceived stigma, also known as self-stigma. Perceived stigma means that you are internalizing your perceptions of being deficient in some way and/or discriminated against.

Types of Mental Health Disorder

When talking about mental health stigmas, it’s useful to understand some of the more common types of mental illnesses.

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, panic disorder, and specific phobias. Someone with an anxiety disorder may experience physical symptoms like sweating and rapid heartbeat. They might respond to certain situations with more fear than is reasonable. If your response to a situation or situations is not appropriate for what’s actually happening, you might be diagnosed with anxiety.

You might also have anxiety if it interferes with your day-to-day functioning.

Mood Disorders

Mood disorders are also known as affective disorders. Mood disorders involve feelings of extreme happiness or sadness, and they often fluctuate quickly. Depression and bipolar disorder are the most common mood disorders.

Psychotic Disorders

Psychotic disorders tend to be more severe mental health disorders. They cause distortions in thinking and awareness. Symptoms of psychotic disorders include delusions and hallucinations. Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder. 

Eating Disorders

When someone has an eating disorder, they experience extreme behaviors and feelings relating to food and weight. Anorexia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and bulimia nervosa are eating disorders. 

Addiction and Impulse Control Disorders

When you have an impulse control disorder, you can’t resist urges to do things that could be harmful to others or yourself. Compulsive gambling is one example of an impulse control disorder. Alcohol and drug addictions also fall into this category.

Personality Disorders

A personality disorder leads to distress for the person who experiences it. Their personality is rigid and extreme, leading to problems in relationships, school, and work. Examples include obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and paranoid personality disorder.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

PTSD results from unprocessed trauma. The condition can develop after a terrifying event in your life, such as an assault or natural disaster.

How to Deal with Stigma

If you have a mental health disorder, here are some suggestions on ways to cope with stigma:

• Get treatment for your mental health disorder.
• Do not let the fear of stigma stop you from getting treatment. Do not fear being labeled. Treatment is going to help you deal with your symptoms and is going to improve your quality of life.
• Do not feel ashamed or doubt yourself because of stigma.
• Instead, focus on building your self-esteem.
• Connect with other people who have mental illnesses through self-help or support groups.
• This will help you understand that you are not alone. The worst thing you can do is isolate yourself.
• Speak out against stigma when you have the opportunity.
• Consider joining an organization that advocates for those with mental health disorders.

Why Does a Mental Health Stigmas List Matter?

If you have looked at a list of common mental health stigmas, you may be wondering why such a list matters. Stigmas can cause exclusion, low self-esteem, and poor social support for the person on the receiving end. This impacts the daily quality of life, and it also has a negative effect on treatment outcomes.

What is Dual Diagnosis?

When talking about a mental health stigmas list, dual diagnosis is an important factor. If someone goes to rehab, they often require treatment for a dual diagnosis. This is because addiction and other mental health disorders tend to occur together. Dual diagnosis simply means that someone has both a mental disorder and an alcohol or drug problem. Around half of people with a mental disorder will have a substance use disorder at some point in their life.

The interactions between mental health disorder and addiction can worsen both conditions. While the conditions can occur together, it does not mean one caused the other. It is challenging to determine the initial cause or condition, even for health care providers.

There are a few theories as to why dual diagnosis is common. First, some of the common risk factors for both include stress, trauma, and genetics. These are factors that often give rise to mental health disorders and addiction. Mental disorders can also contribute to someone’s use of drugs or alcohol.

For example, you might use drugs or alcohol to mask symptoms or pain you are feeling. That is self-medication. Mental disorders can also alter your brain in a way that makes you more likely to develop an addiction and vice versa.

Treating a Dual Diagnosis

When someone has a dual diagnosis, both conditions need to be treated in order to achieve a successful recovery. The following are things to keep in mind about dual diagnosis treatment:

• There are many approaches used to treat a dual diagnosis.
• These can include therapy, medication, or a combination.
• It is more challenging to treat a dual diagnosis.
• A practitioner needs to learn more to find the root cause or causes.
• If you are going to an addiction treatment center, look for one equipped to deal with dual diagnoses because many are not well-equipped for this.
• You may have to participate in a longer treatment program with a dual diagnosis.

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Getting Help to Avoid the Mental Health Stigmas List

If you are dealing with mental health symptoms along with addiction, the best thing you can do is consider going to a treatment center. During treatment, the clinical team can work with you to deeply understand and treat any mental health disorders as well as addiction. If you would like to get treatment, overcome stigmas, and regain control of your life, we encourage you to contact Resurgence Behavioral Health today.

Our team can work with you not just to help you with your addiction but with co-occurring mental health disorders as well. We firmly believe that seeking treatment is the best first step you can make in moving past stigmas and creating the life you want and deserve. We are available to take your calls, and our team can verify your insurance coverage.

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