In 1996, the World Psychiatric Association launched a program to combat stigma and discrimination due to mental disorders, and this program was designed to eliminate myths and misunderstandings attached to mental disorder, this stigma makes the patient
He is isolated in the treatment institutions for a long time, which reduces the chance of recovery or may make him resort to drugs. The program fights bias in all life paths because this prejudice reduces the life efficiency of the patient and his family.
The program is designed for 3 purposes
1. Increase awareness and knowledge of the nature of mental illness
2. Improve the attitudes of the injured or those who were injured and their families
3. Take measures to prevent discrimination and prejudice against disease
The first way to eliminate the stigma of mental illness is to clarify misconceptions and replace them with correct and clear information
False belief / schizophrenia is a double personality
The truth is that schizophrenia is a mental disorder in the form and content of thinking and in emotions and behavior. It may accompany delusions or hallucinations or both. As for double personality, it is a temporary dissociation hysterical state.
False belief / that the cause of schizophrenia is from jinn or magic
Although schizophrenia is an organic disease in the brain (a chemical disorder in the brain) and can be treated, this prevailing belief delays the patient to go to the doctor and sometimes leads to non-compliance with treatment, which exposes them to relapse and delayed recovery>
Misconception / that schizophrenia is a cure for it
This misconception leads to despair, neglect, loss of hope, and sometimes the family abandon the patient. Some patients disappear all of their psychotic symptoms and return to the same level of their previous job and others continue to suffer from some symptoms, and yet they can lead an acceptable life, but about a third of patients with schizophrenia do not have a tangible cure.
False belief / poor upbringing causes schizophrenia
There is no scientific evidence that the poor parenting of children causes schizophrenia, because it is not an ethical aberration but rather a chemical disorder of the brain in the central nervous system. (When brain clots are followed by motor paralysis, schizophrenia also causes paralysis in thinking and achievement functions, but if the person has a genetic predisposition to the disorder, the poor upbringing may affect a small percentage of its early appearance.
Faulty aged / schizophrenic patient unable to function
The truth is that people who suffer from schizophrenia can work even if they show symptoms of a disorder, because work helps with healing and raises the level of efficiency and importance>
Misconception / that a person with schizophrenia suffers from mental retardation
Schizophrenia and mental retardation are two completely different cases, as mental retardation means a halt or slow in mental development that is not commensurate with the chronological age, while schizophrenia is a disorder in thinking
False belief / schizophrenia tends to be violent
This is a widely held belief, unfortunately, and this is not in line with the studies and research published by the Canadian Mental Health Association, as the incidence of violence among schizophrenics is less than that of natural persons, and also that injured persons are more likely than the general population to be victims of violence and not perpetrators, and this is inconsistent with the published methods. Media and thus consolidate this belief>
Misconception / Some people see the psychiatrist as unstable and affected by his profession
Documented studies and statistics indicate that psychiatrists are more stable than other doctors and that the percentage of mental disorders they have is no more than that of other specialties>
Misconception / that the psychiatric patient does not know what is going on because he does not feel pain like organic diseases
The psychological suffering and pain may be severe, which may lead the person to commit suicide, and this is evidence that the patient may feel his suffering sometimes and ignore it or ignore it, which leads to making a wrong decision.
Often this stigma does not come from 3 elements
1. The existence of a stereotype of the mental patient
2. Issue a pre-judgment and avoid it accordingly
3. Discrimination
If you or one of your relatives is mentally disturbed, you have to know that you are not the only one , no one chooses to be mentally ill, such as what a diabetic or obese person chooses, their illness with poor health measures with a genetic predisposition, if we hold them beyond their capacity and place the blame on them, this is because of our wrong beliefs, because Part of our negative behavior towards them is due to a lack of knowledge and fear.
Ways to reduce the stigma of a psychopathic mental disorder
1. Show respect and acceptance
2. Understand their sensitivity and listen carefully
3. Compassion, be compassionate, and make sure that it matches your body language, without exaggeration
4. Encourage them to seek help from professionals, and if possible accompany them to make an appointment
Ways to reduce the stigma of mental disorder from society
1. Educate yourself
2. Eliminate the offensive words associated with them
3. Educate others and work to explain how negative words can affect people with mental disorder, with an explanation of the nature of the disease.
4. State their successes
Ways to reduce the stigma of mental disorder from the state
Issuing brochures, pamphlets and advertisements to publicize the health of mental illness and clarify prevailing inaccuracies
(Research indicates that education strategies can change attitudes, beliefs, and stereotypes, but the effect may be limited and fleeting for people who tend to resist in contradiction to established ideas)
The issuance of laws to combat discrimination, whether in the field of employment, education, or media, with controls
Questioned
Do you think these strategies are applicable to reducing stigma?
* Have you seen information and education campaigns to combat the stigma of mental illness?
* Are you aware of another way that might help combat the stigma of mental illness?