A
mental illness is a medical condition that disrupts a person's thinking,
feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning. Just as
diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions
that often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands
of life. But many people do not see it this way. Rather than viewing a mental
illness just like a physical illness, people tend to view it as 'their own
fault' and not as a result of an illness. According to
research, social stigma associated with mental disorders is a widespread
problem. Some people believe those with serious mental illnesses cannot
recover, or are to blame for problems. Media coverage
of mental illness comprises predominantly negative and pejorative depictions,
for example, of incompetence, violence or criminality, with far less coverage
of positive issues such as accomplishments or human rights issues.
Although I was aware
of all of these facts, I recently I find myself reflecting more deeply on the
stigma people with mental illness experience. Maybe it is because within my own
communities I now clearly see many negative connotations and perceptions associated
with having a mental illness. People feel they are 'mad' , 'retarded' or
because they have this disability they cannot work or be part of society. In
fact within our Indian community of South Africa it is common to label someone
as "having nerves" because they may behave in socially inappropriate
ways. I myself was initially scared and a little nervous to
work in a psychiatric unit. Reflecting on that, my fear and nervousness
probably stems from the stigma we have in our societies.
Recently when
relaying my experiences to others, they have expressed surprise at the fact
that my psychiatric patients function so well. Many are under the assumption
that if someone is mentally ill they cannot function 'normally' and will always
look and behave 'mad'. This is far from the truth. I feel that we all
experience moments of sanity and insanity. Often my patients talk more 'common
sense' than so called 'normal' people. Many people with mental illness were as normal as you and I, and due to
severe life stresses, genetic factors or factors beyond their control, they
'snapped' as they could not cope. Not coping doesn’t make you 'dumb' or stupid'
as is a common perception. On the contrary from my experience those with mental
illnesses are extremely intelligent, but cannot cope in social situations. On
the other hand I have also come into contact with those who have difficulty
with academics, but are very good and kind people but cannot cope with normal
everyday activities. Not being able to cope is something we have all
experienced at some point in our lives. So imagine the stress and hardships
these people experience trying to cope in their lives in addition to the stigma
they receive from society.
Why is it so easy
for us to accept that someone is physically disabled or has a physical illness
such as cancer etc., but we cannot accept that someone has an illness in their
brain? Why will we more easily help and show empathy towards a physically disabled
person, but shy away and often condemn a mentally ill person? These are
questions that often irk me about our people and our societies. In the past and
even currently these people are thrown away, kicked out of their homes, and
punished for having an illness. Mental illness has probably been around since
the start of mankind, yet humanity has still not come to terms to it. The scary
thing I have noticed, is that it is not only uneducated people that have these
negative perceptions and attitudes towards mental illness. I have often heard
negative and hurtful comments coming from so called educated and intelligent
people.
My fear is that as
long as mental illness is not understood, most mentally ill people will
continue to experience stigma and often abuse, neglect and unfair and illegal
treatment. It is our role as OT's to try and change those negative perceptions
that exist, and instead try to change them to positive ones. Has your view of
mental illness changed? What negative perceptions do you observe in your
society?
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