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The Stigma Of Mental Health
Mental Health
<p> Across age groups, genders, and socioeconomic statuses, there is one common thread when it comes to stigma: mental health. Often seen as being less important than physical health, mental health and its stigma has long been part of the discussion around the entire field. Interestingly, it impacts both sides of the equation: patients and practitioners.</p>
<p>What is the stigma of mental health for patients?</p>
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<li><strong>Mental health concerns and conditions are underreported:</strong> Due to the shame and misunderstanding the true importance of mental health support, many concerns and conditions will go underreported and underdiagnosed, creating a challenged quality of life for those who require help.</li>
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<li><strong>It takes a lot for patients to seek help:</strong> Even in situations where patients do end up seeking help, they are often in crisis, or must suffer “hitting rock bottom” before they will even seriously consider getting help. Early intervention can support an easier way of life and better quality of life, but stigma often prevents that.</li>
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<li><strong>Many patients fail to complete treatment: </strong>Even when they do seek treatment, many patients will leave before they have completed treatment. This can lead to them believing that treatment is ineffective, complicating matters further. In some cases, it may lead them to stay away from treatment in the future and tell others the same thing.</li>
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<p><strong>How does mental health stigma impact practitioners?</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Personal biases and backgrounds factor into their treatments: </strong>As professionally trained as they are, mental health practitioners can have personal biases on the stigma around mental health that will factor into their treatments, both in terms of determining “how close” someone is to a crisis, and even the treatment plan itself for their patient.</li>
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<li><strong>They can distance themselves from mental health individuals, including patients:</strong> Just like the general public, who tends to distance itself from those who suffer from mental health patients, practitioners can take the same approach. They may decline to treat certain kinds of patients, for instance, or only will take mild cases versus more severe ones.</li>
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<li><strong>Treatment becomes a routine treatment instead of personalized care:</strong> Like a grocery list of techniques, the treatment becomes routine and just “cookie cutter” rather than focused on each individual patient and their needs. This can further alienate the patient as well as make the practitioner feel as though they are ineffective. This can make things harder in the future on both sides.</li>
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<p><strong>Stigma and mental health are fused together</strong></p>
<p> From both perspectives, the stigma around mental health directly impacts society. On both sides of the table, the stigma can impact the effectiveness of treatment and the long-term effects of proper support. In order to guarantee success for both practitioner and patient, this stigma should be further studied and addressed on a case-by-case basis as well as part of the whole. </p>
<p> With proper comprehension and detail into mental health and its stigma, many will suffer in silence. Addressing it on both sides, compassionately, will help promote a future where mental health is regarded as being as important as physical health.</p>
<p><strong>Sources</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165176517302550">https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165176517302550</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3248273/">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3248273/</a></li>
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