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Mental health and stigma

creative_writerSenior Contributor12 July 2023, 5:49 pm AEST

Mental health and stigma

I’m passionate about going into social work and reducing mental health stigma in the health system. I’m also currently doing an assignment on mental health stigma, but feel like it’s raising a lot of frustration within me

16 replies

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In response to: Mental health and stigma

JynxModerator12 July 2023, 5:54 pm AEST

Re: Mental health and stigma

@creative_writer Definitely a frustrating topic - I think for me it would raise a lot of anger, the type of anger I tend to feel as a response to injustice.

Do you wanna share what has been the source of this frustration for you? Only if it'll help to share it (and not leave you feeling even more frustrated than before!).

In response to: Re: Mental health and stigma

creative_writerSenior Contributor12 July 2023, 6:25 pm AEST

Re: Mental health and stigma

@Jynx

I’ve felt a lot of stigma around my community where reputation is so heavily emphasised, I’ve internalised a lot of that stigma through the years. I wasn’t even allowed to get professional help for my mental health until I turned 18, my parents were trying to protect me from stigma.

Sadly enough, stigma exists even among health professionals, when you’re not improving, some just blame you for being too lazy, it makes you feel stupid and incompetent, like you become a problem instead of a person. In the end, you realise it’s best to cut ties with such professionals because it’s very unhealthy and a toxic situation to be in. Texting during an appointment with a client is a red flag by itself, I was too stupid in my early 20s to realise at the time. I ditched that pdoc and went to a different one later, which helped a lot.

I also feel frustration about how mental health has affected my mum’s physical health, she would never go to a therapist, too much stigma and difficulty in trusting health professionals, i have to be careful with my conversations with her or I get paranoid and feel my supports only help me because it’s their job, that they don’t care My psych has helped me see how her anxieties have affected me.

I am also bitter about how my uncle struggled with bipolar and wasn’t able to get the help, guess the reason why, stigma. He ended up coping by heavy smoking, his physical health deteriorated and he passed away when he wasn’t even that old. I wasn’t even close to my uncle, but I feel so bitter about how things ended up. I don’t even know why I am reacting the way I am.

Sorry, I probably loaded you with a lot

In response to: Re: Mental health and stigma

JynxModerator12 July 2023, 6:40 pm AEST

Re: Mental health and stigma

No sorry necessary @creative_writer I invited you to share, after all. And I think these things are really important to talk about - both for the internal processing it can offer to discuss them, and to promote community awareness.

I think one of the biggest influences on how much MH is stigmatised is the extremely individualistic values of our modern society. The idea that if you're struggling in any capacity it is somehow your own fault - it fails to take into account the fact that we are not isolated entities, we are in a constant relationship with our context and environment. But we internalise our struggles as personal failings - probably because we are bombarded with the message that if we aren't coping, it's because we aren't trying hard enough. Humans are intrinsically social, and biologically wired to be part of a community. We all need each other.

I'm sorry to hear that your mother and uncle were unable to get the support they deserved. It makes sense to me that you're reacting in this way. These issues hit so close to home, and I imagine it's been something that feels insurmountable at times - finding the right support to help promote growth and progress, not blame and shame. But look at you go - you're doing the work! Learning to be picky about your MH support, studying it, continuing to seek support even when your mum/family might discourage you from doing so. We call that cycle-breaking, and it's so important.

In response to: Re: Mental health and stigma

creative_writerSenior Contributor12 July 2023, 8:32 pm AEST

Re: Mental health and stigma

@Jynx, mental health is treated so differently than physical health. Like if someone is in pain people don’t tell you to keep trying harder and trying to be more positive. However, if you’re feeling down, you’re supposed to have it all together because people are worse off. I didn’t chose to have mental illnesses, it just happened. I think some cultures prefer keeping emotional pain under the carpet and prefer it does not leave the family, I know my parents are very family orientated, I grew up feeling as though I was not meant to trust outsiders. My mum has trust issues big time, and I have to catch myself, being cynical would be my undoing in the recovery process.

It is true that I need to break the cycle, when I have kids or a kid, I want to be there for them to my best ability and need to be more stable first. I can’t blame my parents either, they were never taught to manage their own emotions, but that can change

In response to: Re: Mental health and stigma

JynxModerator12 July 2023, 8:42 pm AEST

Re: Mental health and stigma

Yep @creative_writer you nailed it, the disparity between reactions to MH stuff vs medical conditions is huge. And yet, separating them is foolish - having physical health conditions can lead to mental health struggles, and having MH conditions can lead to physical struggles too. We can't separate them, because we can't separate our minds from our bodies.

I'm glad to hear that you have such a hopeful outlook - both for future children and for those for whom it is never too late to seek that support. Mad kudos to you 😁

In response to: Re: Mental health and stigma

creative_writerSenior Contributor12 July 2023, 9:05 pm AEST

Re: Mental health and stigma

@Jynx, having physical pain is pretty common with mental health conditions. I certainty experience more pain when experiencing strong emotions. I think another thing that is important to acknowledge is trauma often gets stored in the body too. If emotions are not expressed, they tend to manifest in the body. It’s not fair to compare physical and mental illnesses, both are valid and can be debilitating. I just find it insulting when someone says it’s not as bad as having a life threatening illness, that’s not the point, pain is pain, and I’ve had moments when I felt like I couldn’t go on, but I’ve just been luckier lately, the last time I wanted to disappear was days ago.

I really want to have a positive and productive life in the future, but it is a process

In response to: Re: Mental health and stigma

tymeModerator12 July 2023, 9:33 pm AEST

Re: Mental health and stigma

You have been so resilient @creative_writer . I admire your strength. I recognise how much harder it hurts when there's both mental and physical conditions to battle.

Thank you for sharing your journey with us.

In response to: Re: Mental health and stigma

creative_writerSenior Contributor13 July 2023, 4:27 pm AEST

Re: Mental health and stigma

@tyme, i’m just doing what I can to keep my head above water.

I’ve been thinking, there is more to the anger than the stigma, I am sad about how my uncle’s life turned out to be with the chaos in his life. I can’t discuss this right here and right now. I barely knew him, but sometimes I wonder if things had been different, would it be different?

In response to: Re: Mental health and stigma

tymeModerator13 July 2023, 4:52 pm AEST

Re: Mental health and stigma

It is understandable that you would be considering the life of your relatives @creative_writer when looking at your own mental health. I'm sorry things were tough for your uncle too. Is that your mum's brother? I'm wondering if this has added to your mum's stress too?

In response to: Re: Mental health and stigma

creative_writerSenior Contributor13 July 2023, 5:08 pm AEST

Re: Mental health and stigma

@tyme, yes, my mum’s brother. It was hard for her too, even though they grew distant over the years for certain reasons, but it’s still family. I think my mum’s mental health really took a toil when my grandpa (her dad) died. My mum was young mum then and I was a just a toddler, that might also partly explain why it was hard for her to meet my emotional needs at the time, grief is hard

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