Psychological Impact of Stigma - Essay Example

It is observed that people suffering from mental illness take their lives differently. They react in a severely distorted manner, not because of their illness but because of society's reaction towards their illness. The outlook of the patient changes once they witness their discrimination from the rest of the individuals in the social circle. Symptomatic treatment could be alleviated using numerous measures encompassing medicines, exercises, physiotherapy, and recreational means but the stigma linked with the mental illness may continue for a complete life span (Corrigan, 2002).

If not treated psychologically, the stigma could culminate into typecasting, disbelieving, terror or dodging behaviour and be able to pessimistically impact tracking down of treatment, job status and earnings, self-image and relations with those in the family and also with the society. Thus their personalities are projected as feeble-willed and capricious. These features retreat patients from their close ones. Individuals with mental illness display abnormal behaviour and distinguishing socio-economic status.

Education and awareness of parents could control the situation of the child to a greater extent. It is observed that in childhood years if appropriate and timely care is given symptoms could be diminished to a greater extent. Understanding the needs of a child and also a deep sympathetic yet cooperative methodology not only enhances the self-confidence of the child but also builds a bond of trust towards people.

Therefore, it is necessary to understand the psychology of the patient and what he is going through as they are confronted doubly. On one hand, they are bothered about their disease and symptoms and on the other hand they are facing misunderstandings about themselves, prevailing in their social circle. Accumulating these features provide them with a feeling of being stripped of numerous prospects that classify the excellence of life encompassing high-quality jobs, secure shelter, reasonable health care and association with a varied group of people (Corrigan, 2002).

Research studies conducted to understand the impact of psychology, reveal that there are two kinds of stigma that a mentally ill patient views; self-stigma and social or public stigma. Public stigma finds its relation with the kind of cultural atmosphere of the individual. In some countries especially in Asian and African countries, stigma is not very imperative while in Islamic societies, stigma does not find any place. In the Western world, public stigma is weighed extremely high. In Western countries, people have a great terror of being excluded from their communities. The public stigma seizes the authority of the patient, i.e. the patient is thought to be highly irresponsible in all his/ her actions and pursuits. This takes away his individuality as all the decisions are taken by associates about him and the patient is deprived of taking any decision. Moreover, mentally ill individuals behave like a child due to a lack of brain development. The brain of such individuals is just like a child that needs tremendous care, in certain cases, they are pampered by those associated with the patient, further deteriorating their development (Lai, 2000).

It is observed that people with physical disabilities are accepted in the social set-up as normal individuals but those suffering from mental illness are not accepted. This discrimination paves the way for behavioural impact. A child feels lonely and secluded, and experiences avoidance and segregation. It is imperative that appropriate strategies and psychological impact may be formulated to change the outlook of people for uplifting the lives of mentally ill individuals and to enable them to come out of their stigmas (Stigma; Stigma Associated with Mental Illness).

For this three approaches have been devised, the foremost is education, one must not have a negative approach in life, the second approach is protest, a reactive strategy which is thought to reduce the negative approach but could gain little prominence. The third one is most imperative; it is the contact with the people. It is the awareness of the society that can reduce the stigma of the mentally ill individual and the person gains confidence within self to cope will all odds. This provides empathy in the treatment of mental illness (Corrigan, 2002).

The psychology of the child solely depends on the kind of attention the child gets in the surroundings and also in the school. It is essential to have a highly congenial atmosphere in the school and teachers have to be equally appreciative to build a positive atmosphere for the confidence and development of the child. An appropriate understanding and an approach for cognitive development is expected from those associated with the child, this enables the child to cope with the mental illness at a much faster pace.

Stigma can create a menace and danger to the self-respect and self-worth, associations and also on the job prospects of psychiatric individuals. Nevertheless, social impact bothers the individual more than the condition itself. Adequate knowledge and confidence provided to the patient may discredit mental illness to a greater extent and aid in minimizing the fear that the patient harbour. Diminishing the stigma is one of the greatest challenges for psychotherapists and those who are working in the field of mental health. Persistence of stigma could have detrimental consequences on the recovery of mental illness. Education could meaningfully avert and eradicate prejudice. Childhood training and parental influence could have a lasting impact on the psychology of the patient. Read More