Societal attitude?

[MeowsePad]

Do you feel that your society has a negative attitude regarding people with mental illnesses or people who attend therapy?


I live in the United States. Even today, I think that many people are quick to judge when they hear that somebody has a mental illness or is going to therapy. Those are some of the reasons that I have not sought help for my problems.

 

[djanx]

Well, there is a stigma involved. But, more than the society, its usually the laws and rules that turn me off. For example, I know that in certain countries including the US, kids with certain diseases are taken away from their parents. You see that is brutal. The US Justice department's report says that the practice of taking the child away from parents causes lifelong trauma for the child. I mean if the parent is abusive or something, it would make sense. But, just because the government thinks they should take care of a kid or something, its not right to take away the child. The same thing goes for parents who have some form of minor mental illness. If a person is depressed and going through a face, and you take away their child because of that condition, I think there condition will only further worsen. So, unless the laws, rules, and practices change, society won't change. Sometimes the law needs to do the right thing before society comes around.

 

[Ashley0323]

I am also in the US and I couldnt agree more. People are very quick to judge without knowing the situation on what that person may be going through. I have never got help for anything, as I have never reached that point personally. Though, when I know others do, I never judge them for getting help. It takes a strong person to admit their issues, and an even stronger person to get help for those issues. Its not their fault.

 

[John Snort]

Most people have a negative attitude towards mental illnesses. People with mental illnesses are stigmatized and this is the reason why though someone may suspect they have a mental illness they'll neither seek treatment nor reach out for support though they need both. To change that attitude, kids should get some education about mental illnesses. At the very least, people's understanding of mental illness will gradually begin to change.

 

[Alex]

Society has a flawed ideal that is projected everywhere, but behind closed doors many people have problems they deal with privately. There are so many different kinds of mental health issues and people are afraid they will be seen as unstable and a nutcase.


You shouldn't let it stop you searching for help, but I know making that first step is the hardest. Fortunately there are sites such as these that can bridge that gap until you find someone to help you, or the right time to ask for help. Therapy isn't so bad these days, as people seem to brag about therapy and are more open to it or counseling. Go when it feels right for you, but there are many self-help methods too.


First, you need to identify what the root cause is, and that is what therapy helps you to uncover. Once you know that and any triggers, it's then a plan to figure out how to live with them or overcome them.

 

[sorrowscall]

I live in the states too, but other than media and a few people I've never cared to remember much of, I haven't dealt with the same stigma. The society I'm used to, not the government, has been prime facie supportive about people going to therapy in the like. However, that part of society still has it's own extremist ills to worry about and sometimes think therapy is a way to fix people who don't share similar commonly accepted views. It's saddening, interesting, and sometimes helpful.

 

[pwarbi]

There certainly still is a stigma attached to mental illness even now, but here in the UK especially, it is starting to change for the better. It's not going to change overnight as that attitude as been instilled in people for many years and it will take time for people to look at mental illness in a different way to what they have done in the past. The fact that social anxiety and depression is now even being classed as an illness is a big step in the right direction, and while it might still be too early to say that it won't go back to how it was, at least now there is hope for people that things will continue to get better in the future.

 

[HappyKoi]

The U.S. really does have these issues, and a lot of people who work in jobs that deal with the public aren't educated on mental illness, so they tend to have some very flawed views. It's hard to find and continue therapy in the States because our country has a very screwed up attitude toward medical care and insurance. Companies will often pay for medication and not therapy, or insist on a certain therapy because it doesn't take as long as some others. And then, if you need therapy again, it's hard convincing your insurance to pay for it. I don't know if the medical model has done more harm or good for mental illness. It seems to insist that all you need is a pill and you'll be perfectly fine, every single day, when it's really more complicated than that. People here also tend to think of people with mental illness as violent and unpredictable, and want to believe that everyone who takes part in these horrendous mass shootings that we've experienced were out of control because of a mental illness. I think the more that ordinary people speak out and their experiences are heard, the better it will get.

 

[kgord]

Well, lots of people go to therapy. I would guess that more people have gone to therapy than haven't so that would mean most of the world is "nuts." If therapy is something you feel you can benefit from, I would not let ill informed societies ideas stop you. I mean, therapy is confidential anyway, so unless you tell someone they are unlikely to know. I mean if you use insurance to pay for it, so your insurance company knows, it isn't like they are going to tell everyone you are attending therapy. I think considering therapy something only the mentally ill do is a very outdated idea.

 

[Panic57]

I think the stigma will always be very hard to shake in a modern society. We are a product of the Renaissance where men decides their destiny instead of God and mental disorders takes away from the mantra of self-determination. No one likes to admit that you might not have complete control over your own mind. Plus, it's hard to sympathize with a condition unless you or a loved one has it. Otherwise the unknown is always scary.

 

[Fae]

I think there's a stigma not just toward mental illness, but toward certain categories of mental illness. Disorders that have a definite physical aspect, like an addiction or eating disorder, tend to receive more sympathy than conditions related to depression and anxiety. Maybe it's because it gives people something to point as definitively being "wrong" whereas disorders without clear physical symptoms are less concrete and "provable". Running into someone with that kind of thinking can be frustrating. Conversations about depression and feeling down shift to end in "...oh, well I hope you feel better soon." Because they cannot point to the problem and point to a solution, they'd rather not think too much about the issue.


Unfortunately for me it has a bonus effect of feeling like I'm boring or worth ignoring when mentioning things about being depressed tends to awkwardly nuke all sense of conversation... This is my feeling from the US, by the by.

 

[Azelma]

You usually notice the attitude from some older people, who still seem to think that no such thing as mental illnesses exist, it's just a matter of laziness or something. But the general stigma seems to be lessening, at least from what I've noticed around me. And it seems that these days, everyone has some kind of a mental illness (I have a hard time thinking of any people I know who don't suffer from something, even if it is in small bouts).


There's been a definite stigma imo, but we're heading in the right direction.

 

[Sue]

Even though it is very common now a days for people to have some sort of mental illness I do still find that society does treat people differently once they find out they have a mental illness. It is not fair and it is not right but most people will not get it until it affects them or one of their family members. Some people just think people can get over it or they are doing it to seek attention. It is to the point where people who do suffer from mental illness suffer alone because they don't feel they can share it with other people. It really is sad because that is when they need people the most.