Three Mental Illness Stigma Quotes and Conversations

There are many good quotes and conversations about the stigma attached to mental illness. We owe it to ourselves to listen to and discuss these quotes as an effort to acknowledge the mental illness stigma. Fighting stigma is one of the steps to recovery from mental illness. So here are three quotes, and some possible discussions to have about mental illness stigma.

You know how they say that if you think you might be going crazy, it’s proof that you’re not? Well, it’s a lie. One of many they tell you about mental illness. ― Forrest Carr, A Journal of the Crazy Year

Mental Illness Stigma Quote #1 Mental Illness Stigma Resulting in Lack of Sympathy

The amount of sympathy you get from having an illness is paid out like a Ponzi scheme and psychiatric disorders are all the way at the bottom. -- Nenia Campbell, Tantalized

Although I had symptoms as early as age seven, I was not diagnosed until after my freshman year of college. I was not surprised to know I had a mental illness, so it was easy for me to discuss it. I soon learned, though, that not everyone was going to wish me well. I still remember some of the less-than-supportive comments:

• "If you just had enough faith and truly wanted to be healed, you would be."
• "I think you need to go off your medication and trust God for your healing."
• "I don't trust any medication that alters the emotions."

There was no cast to sign. People did not bring my family meals. People were considerably more sympathetic when I had a kidney stone than when I was diagnosed with a mental illness.

What are some comments that indicate lack of sympathy that you have heard?

Mental Illness Stigma Quote #2: Stigma Affecting Whether To Disclose a Mental Illness

“Mental illness" is among the most stigmatized of categories. People are ashamed of being mentally ill. They fear disclosing their condition to their friends and confidants-and certainly to their employers. ― Elyn R. Saks, Refusing Care: Forced Treatment and the Rights of the Mentally Ill

I was once advised by a potential employer not to disclose the fact I had depression because it might scare potential employers. Another potential employer asked my job coach, "I have knives in the kitchen. Will anybody get hurt?" Mental illness stigma is powerful, and it's easy to understand why so many people keep their diagnoses a secret--we have to earn a living, and mental illness disclosure can threaten that. That's why disclosure is something that should be seriously and carefully considered.

Is it safer to spend eight hours a day with people we can't open up to? Is it better to be constantly on guard that someone may see us go to a mental health clinic? Is it better to worry about medication causing a false positive on a drug test?

What should we do? Should we risk discrimination because of mental illness stigma and disclose our struggles? Or should we keep it secret and worry that something will force disclosure?

Mental Illness Stigma Quote #3: The Media and Mental Illness Stigma

Several themes describe misconceptions about mental illness and corresponding stigmatizing attitudes. Media analyses of film and print have identified three: people with mental illness are homicidal maniacs who need to be feared; they have childlike perceptions of the world that should be marveled; or they are responsible for their illness because they have weak character. -- Patrick W. Corrigan, "Understanding the impact of stigma on people with mental illness," World Psychiatry

Which of these is the most popular in this mental illness quote? I personally have never run into the second one, but I've heard the first and third one many times. I know that many people who understand that mental illness is just that--an illness--are scared by the behavior of a person with mental illness. A popular example is the homeless guy who preaches at nobody in the streets.

I remember a few letters to Dear Abby that dealt with the stigma of mental illness. One reader wrote to inform her that no, people with schizophrenia did not need to be forcibly institutionalized and medicated, and another wrote that no, people who self-injure are not attention seeking. If Dear Abby believed these myths, what does a layman believe?

The good news is people can change with education. The more people who disclose that they're being treated for a mental illness, the more people will realize they have a competent mental health consumer as a friend, neighbor, or coworker. That will lessen the stigma attached to mental illness. Disclosure is a brave choice that's not for everybody. You need to decide for yourself.

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