WW#6

Heres How to Solve the Stigma With Mental Health Issues For Teens

What Ive learned almost immediately from entering high school is that it can be quite a stressful
experience-- and if you experience too much stress, then temporary issues in your life can become a lot
more permanent. I experience stress from my parents, myself, my friends, to be a better person, a better
friend, and get better grades. And in doing so, I struggle with my mental health-- when I switched to my
new school, any previous progress I had made from the summer to feel better about myself went down the
drain. But struggling with mental health isnt just a reality for me-- its reality for a lot of teenagers.

According to NAMI, a leading organization in mental health, 1 in 5 children ages 13-18 have, or will
have a serious mental illness. Despite the alarming and noteworthy statistic, many teenagers with mental
health issues are still faced with stigma from their peers.

Stigma, by definition, is a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or

person. Mental health issues are caused by an imbalance of chemicals to the brain-- they are not
something that people can simply ignore. Teenagers-- nor anyone else-- with mental health issues do not

1
have the ability to simply stop their mental health from worsening. This harmful assumption-- and the
stigma surrounding mental health-- must be stopped.

Stigma surrounds mental health in our daily lives. A noticeable example is within the media-- which
commonly misrepresents people with mental disorders. Stephen Hinshaw, a psychology professor at the
University of CaliforniaBerkeley, says that: The worst stereotypes come out in such depictions:
mentally ill individuals as incompetent, dangerous, slovenly, undeserving the portrayals serve to
distance 'them' from the rest of 'us.' My generation is known to be addicted to technology, so seeing
stigma surrounding mental disorder in the media could be a major influence on teenagers.

So how do we stop the stigma surrounding mental health? I have found that there are many simple
solutions to reducing stigma, but the most efficient one would be re-education/education.

In fourth grade, I was learning about my reproductive organs for my only health class in elementary
school. Why couldnt I have learned about depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia?

Many would argue that we should not know about such things at such an early age, or that it should not be
discussed so freely-- but the act of condemning it is stigma. Condemning discussions of mental health
makes people think that people struggling with mental health issues should be shunned, because a
discussion of their issues should not be done in public.

Stigma surrounding mental disorder is linked with a lack of education. A survey was conducted by
Michigan State University and it required the subjects to recognize the symptoms of depression and
anxiety. The people that recognized the symptoms were less likely to report stigma, while the ones who
did not were more likely to report some stigma. This piece of evidence proves that stigma can easily be
reduced with education on mental health.

Its not just teenagers that should require education on mental health in order to eliminate stigma-- school
faculty should be educated as well. Though it may not seem like it, teachers are one of the main groups
who adolescents are stigmatized by. Graham Davey, writer of Psychology Today, says that:

Moses (2010) found that stigma directed at adolescents with mental health problems came
from family members, peers, and teachers. 46% of these adolescents described experiencing
stigmatization by family members in the form of unwarranted assumptions (e.g. the sufferer was
being manipulative), distrust, avoidance, pity and gossip, 62% experienced stigma from peers
which often led to friendship losses and social rejection (Connolly, Geller, Marton & Kutcher
(1992), and 35% reported stigma perpetrated by teachers and school staff, who expressed fear,
dislike, avoidance, and under-estimation of abilities. (2013)

The effects of being educated on mental health can be demonstrated is through more careful language
about the topic. Changing the way people discuss others with mental health struggles is a big step in the
right direction for reducing stigma. For example, if youve ever used the words crazy, nut job, or

2
retarded to describe someone struggling with their mental health, then you have strengthened the stigma
surrounding it. A person is not defined by their mental disorder, and doing so is disrespectful. An
example: a teenager named Kiera. Ever since she was little, Kiera has struggled with schizophrenia. Kiera
is not schizophrenic, Kiera has schizophrenia. Her whole life is not her schizophrenia-- and she is not
defined by her mental disorder. Through changing language, teenagers allow for stigma to be reduced and
for people with mental health issues to feel more comfortable discussing their mental health.

Struggling with your mental health is difficult. Having people judge you for something that you cannot
control is difficult. I see others struggle with it, and I see them being mocked for it. I struggle with it--
because stigma is everywhere, and many
people dont realize that. Feeling invalidated
because your mental health isnt the best is
awful. (These are only the things that I must
deal with-- I dont struggle with alcohol nor
drug abuse, and there is even more stigma
surrounding those than depression and
anxiety, two of the most common mental
disorders.)

Mental disorders are something that people

across the world have struggled, and will
continue to struggle with. The stigma surrounding mental disorders needs to stop, because it can impact
people with mental health problems in terrible ways. By introducing mental health education in school,
teenagers with mental health issues will be more likely to face less stigma from their peers, whether
unintentional or not.

Through education, stigma will be able to be reduced. Through our awareness and our help, stigma can be
stopped in its tracks.

[If you have questions, you can visit the NAMI hotline here.]