Stigmatizing Mental Illness- When Will We Learn That Enough is Enough?

Rae Anna Golderer

1 in 4 people are affected by mental illness and are scared to get the proper help they deserve due to the fear
of judgment by society and their peers.

In the United States alone, about 46% of adults will experience a mental health related
issue in their lifetime. Only about 40% of those adults will actually seek professional help, and Commented [1]: I started my op-ed off with a strong
statistic to grab the readers attention. This statistic
one of the main reasons for this is the fear of judgement from society and peers. False beliefs specifically is very attention-grabbing because it shows
about mental illness causes significant problems and it needs to stop now. exactly how many people are effected by this issue.
This also explains the severity of the issue and how it
Society glorifies being “normal” and happy, and if you aren’t, you are automatically needs to be fixed.
labeled and are seen and treated differently. This is called stigma. According to Mayo Clinic, a
Commented [2]: I formed this sentence like “False
nonprofit organization committed to clinical practice, stigma is when “someone looks at a person beliefs about mental illness causes significant problems
and it needs to stop now” instead of “False beliefs
in a negative way because they have a distinguishing personal trait or characteristic that’s about mental illness cause significant problems and it
thought to be a disadvantage”. It comes in two main forms: social and self-perceived. Although must be fixed” because I believe that the first sentence
seems more demanding and urgent. If I had written the
self-perceived stigma—which involves an internalized feeling that the person with the mental sentence the second way, readers would be less
illness suffers from— is an issue, the main one that seems to have the most damaging effects is urgent to fix their behavior.
social stigma. This form of stigma involves the prejudicial attitudes that others have about
mental illness and the people who have them. This negative mindset is unfortunately common
toward people who have mental health conditions and have worsened through the years. In
severe cases, people have a harder time finding a job or even housing due to people‘s uneducated
perspective. It’s hard enough feeling different than everyone around you, let alone being judged
or discriminated against for it.
Growing up, I was taught to keep my emotions on the inside and to be happy as much as
possible because “happy girls are the prettiest girls”. As a young, naive kid who did what she
was told, I stuck by that saying, bottled all my emotions up, and let them out when I was alone in
my bedroom. Putting on a mask everyday to dodge judgement from my friends and family was
damaging and lead to my reluctance to seek help and support in the people I cared about the
most.
Luckily, society has been more accepting of certain mental health issues,
especially depression or anxiety, causing people suffering from those conditions to feel more
comfortable speaking out about how they have been feeling or what they are going through.
Because of this, I have been more comfortable expressing my issues to my friends and family,
creating that feeling of support and reassurance that I haven’t felt in a while. I still have my
moments of anxiety and emotional numbness, but knowing no one will judge me for it is a great
step in the right direction for society. Although judgment for anxiety and depression is
diminished, people suffering with other mental illnesses like eating disorders, schizophrenia, or
bipolar disorders are not getting the same acceptance. They are reluctant to seek treatment and
have a strong belief that they’ll never get better. Social media and certain movies or TV shows
have a lot to do with this and no one has attempted to fix it. Cinematic depictions of
schizophrenia are the most common and are often very stereotypical and give the wrong
depiction of symptoms, causes, and treatment.
Commented [3]: I added this sentence to the end of
the paragraph to add emphasis on the fact that judging
others around you can have a negative impact on
those people. We don’t know what we’re all going
through and I feel as though this sentence reminds the
reader of that.
Commented [4]: I added a paragraph to talk about my
experience with mental health to build my credibility. If
someone who didn’t have first-hand experience with
stigma wrote an out this topic, it would be hard to trust
some of their information. It also helps readers who
may have similar problems connect with me so they
are more likely to agree with my argument.
Commented [5]: This sentence reminds the reader
that society is doing a great job in reducing stigma with
certain mental illnesses, but not all. It reminds them
that even though society still has a lot of work to do, its
doing a good job at helping the situation so far.
Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal as the Joker in early October has risen a lot of controversy about the inaccuracy of mental
illness used in Hollywood.

One of the most popular movies that came out this month, Joker starring Joaquin
Phoenix, has sparked a lot of controversy concerning its depiction of mental illness. His Commented [6]: I think talking about a recent movie
will show how stigmatizing mental illnesses is still an
character is displayed as very violent and engages in homicidal behaviors which is extremely issue that Hollywood struggles to get rid of. Even after
inaccurate. People may say that movies like these just portray what happens when the illness mental health has been talked about more freely and
acceptedly, movies and TV shows still seem to
goes untreated or that it isn’t stigmatizing because the main character has a mental illness which stereotype people with certain mental illnesses.
brings awareness. However, this movie and many others like it reinforce biased beliefs and
stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental health problems, not “awareness”. According
to Mayo Clinic, there are over 200,000 cases of schizophrenia in the United States alone and Commented [7]: I included the amount of reported
cases of schizophrenia to show the reader exactly how
those 200,000 and many others across the globe have to hear biased and uneducated many people are effected by what the media portrays
conversations about their condition because of this movie and movies like it which, if serious them as. It puts a number on the word “schizophrenic”
and makes the reader realize that thousands are hurt
enough, can lead to disaster. but the judgement everyday.
If we don’t educate ourselves and stop judging others with mental health issues, the
Commented [8]: Where did you find this information?
suicide rate will only keep increasing and increasing. According to research by the National
Commented [9]: I included someone else’s story other
Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the suicide than just my own to show the reader that a lot of people
rate has increased by 30% in the last twenty years and social media plays a huge part in that. are effected by stigma. From celebrities to people like
the reader and I, everyone is effected by mental health
Margie Warrell, a contributor at Forbes, lost her brother to suicide back in 2010. He was in and in some form.
out of psychiatric wards and was constantly accompanied by shame and humiliation of what
friends and family thought of him. Like Warrell, I have many family members that struggle with
mental health issues and seeing people that you love struggle is hard. Stories like these are
common and with the increasing amount of activity on social media sites, psychologists fear that
stories like these are going to be too common.
So what can we do? How can we stop the stigma? For one, we can learn to be more open Commented [10]: Adding “we” into these sentences
makes the reader reflect on themselves and their lives
and accepting of others. In today’s society, we are too quick to judge one another based off of to see how they can improve the situation. It acts as a
looks or what we’ve heard from other people. We’re all human. We all have feelings and are call to action and gets the readers interested in helping.
going through similar issues without even knowing, so as the saying goes, “if you don’t have Commented [11]: When I read lengthy essays like
anything nice to say, don’t say it at all”. One negative comment can turn a person’s whole world this, short and to-the-point sentences are not only
refreshing, but also have a stronger impact in my
around, so keep it to yourself. We can also educate ourselves on mental health illnesses like opinion. In lengthier sentences, sometimes the idea
can get lost, which doesn’t happen with shorter
schizophrenia or bipolar disorders before or after seeing certain movies or posts online. This sentences like these.
way, not only are you more educated, but you can educate the people around you who may have
negatively biased ideas about mental health and debunk myths like the idea that people with
schizophrenia are usually violent. Using tactics like these and ones similar, stigma can be
eventually eliminated. Everyone deserves to live in an environment that they feel comfortable in;
it's up to us to create it.

Work Cited
“A To Z.” Mental Health Foundation, https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/s/stigma-
and-dicrimination.
Caddell, Jenev. “How to Cope With Stigma When You Have a Mental Illness.” Verywell
Mind, Verywell Mind, 21 June 2019, https://www.verywellmind.com/mental-illness-and-stigma-
2337677.
Corrigan, Patrick W, and Amy C Watson. “Understanding the Impact of Stigma on
People with Mental Illness.” World Psychiatry : Official Journal of the World Psychiatric
Association (WPA), Masson Italy, Feb. 2002,
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1489832/.
Gaga, Lady, and Tedros Adhanom. “800,000 People Kill Themselves Every Year. What
Can We Do? | Lady Gaga and Tedros Adhanom.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 9
Oct. 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/09/lady-gaga-mental-health-
global-emergency-suicide.
“Mental Health: Overcoming the Stigma of Mental Illness.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo
Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 24 May 2017,
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/in-depth/mental-health/art-
20046477.
“NAMI.” Home, https://www.nami.org/blogs/nami-blog/october-2017/9-ways-to-fight-
mental-health-stigma.
Stanley, Tim. “Mental Health Association Oklahoma CEO: 'Joker' Gives 'Completely
False Impression' of Mental Illness.” Tulsa World, 30 Oct. 2019,
https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/mental-health-association-oklahoma-ceo-joker-gives-
completely-false-impression/article_ca767d06-d68c-5ba7-9748-24332b7c111f.html.
Warrell, Margie. “Mental Illness: Extend Compassion, Not Judgement.” Forbes, Forbes
Magazine, 3 Mar. 2014, https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2014/03/02/mental-illness-
extend-compassion-not-judgement/.
Warrell, Margie. “The Rise And Rise Of Suicide: We Must Remove The Stigma Of
Mental Illness.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 11 June 2018,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2018/06/09/the-rise-and-rise-of-suicide-we-must-
remove-the-stigma-of-mental-illness/.

Topic- The Stigma of Mental Health: My topic is about how society judges people with
mental health disorders/illnesses and gives them a negative “title”. I will also talk about how the
new Joker movie is very dangerous and can lead to a greater judgment and stigma towards
people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.

Rhetorical Situations:
Writer: The writer is me, Rae Anna Golderer. I have been dealing with mental health issues both
in the past and in the present and have been judged because of it.
Writer’s Goal: My goal is to show that mental health and depression are common and that
society needs to get rid of the stigma that we need to be happy all the time. Due to the stigma,
people that are struggling to think that everyone around them is either happy or puts on a happy
filter that society makes them put on which makes me and many others feel like they are the only
ones struggling. The stigma needs to stop so people are less afraid to ask for help. My goal is to
also inform how Joker portrays incorrect representation of mental health, specifically
schizophrenia.
Exigence: The exigence is that a new movie, Joker, recently came out that gives a false and
negative perspective on people with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses and is giving
people that wrong impression of others with the same disorder, leading to stigmintation and
discrimination.
Intended Audience: The intended audience are people struggling with mental health issues and
those who have seen the Joker movie or plan on seeing it.
Secondary Audience: The secondary audience are psychologists or counselors, and schools and
parents who need to provide a comfortable environment where they feel supported.
Argument: Society and media needs to stop stereotyping and stigmatizing mental health,
specifically schizophrenia.
Venue: My model op-eds were on websites like Forbes or The Guardian, so I created my op-ed
to have a similar layout as an op-ed found on the Guardian’s website.
Extra Background Information: Although media has been more accepting and open about mental
health issues like depression or anxiety, it hasn’t given other disorders like schizophrenia or
bipolar disorders the same acceptance, which is why it is still stigmatized. Depression and
anxiety can also be stigmatized even with media’s acceptance because it’s becoming a trend to
have these illnesses. This leads to people not believing those who say they are suffering with
anxiety or depression. The Joker movie that recently came out in theatres made an estimated $93
million opening weekend. A lot of people saw it and a lot of people were fed an incorrect
portrayal of what schizophrenia really is like. This leads to people thinking schizophrenics are
“insane” or “psychopaths” like Joaquin Phoenix’s character.