How do you think stigma affects the lives of people with mental illness?

Stigma can lead people with mental illness to be discriminated against and miss out on work or housing, bullied or to become a victim of violence. It can also mean they don’t seek treatment when they need it.

Stigma in the form of social distancing has been observed when people are unwilling to associate with a person with mental illness.  This might include not allowing the person to provide childcare, or declining the offer of a date (Corrigan et al, 2001). Self-discrimination or internalised discrimination is the process in which people with mental health problems turn the stereotypes about mental illness adopted by the public, towards themselves. They assume they will be rejected socially and so believe they are not valued (Livingston and Boyd, 2010).

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