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What is Stigma?

No matter the magnitude, stigma, prejudice, and discrimination against people with mental illness leads to harm to stigmatized individuals and their loved ones.

 

The effect of stigma can be exacerbated by factors such as culture. People may also face more than one type of stigma at a time, such as for their race, gender, sexuality, or disability. 

Image by Martino Pietropoli

Public stigma - is “prejudice and discrimination directed at a group by the larger population.”

 

Structural stigma - is the systemic limitation of opportunities for individuals with mental illness, such as through underfunded mental health services, to lower funding for mental illness research. 

 

Self-stigma - can result when stigmatized individuals internalize the public’s beliefs, be prejudiced against themselves, and then discriminate against themselves .

Image by Louis Hansel

Components of prejudice

 

Stigma can be understood as being made up of three components: stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination.

Stereotypes are generalized, oversimplified beliefs about a group of people, such as dangerousness, incompetence, or character weakness. They often stem from a lack of understanding or fear due to inaccurate or misleading media representation. 


People who endorse these negative stereotypes are prejudiced, and often have negative emotional reactions to stigmatized groups.

This may result in discrimination, whereby prejudiced individuals take action against stigmatized groups.

Image by Ramon Kagie

Discrimination can take several forms, such as:

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  1. Direct discrimination, where you are treated worse than others.

  2. Indirect discrimination, where an organization’s arrangements put you at an unfair disadvantage

  3. Discrimination as a result of your disability, such as being given a warning at work for taking time off for medical appointments

  4. Harassment, such as through humiliation or intimidation

  5. Victimization, where you are treated badly after complaining about mistreatment.

Resources:

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  1. American Psychiatric Association. (n.d.). Stigma, prejudice and discrimination against people with mental illness. Stigma, Prejudice and Discrimination Against People with Mental Illness. https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/stigma-and-discrimination 

  2. Corrigan, P. W., & Rao, D. (2012). On the self-stigma of mental illness: Stages, disclosure, and strategies for change. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 57(8), 464–469. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674371205700804 

  3. Corrigan, P. W., & Watson, A. C. (2002). Understanding the impact of stigma on people with mental illness. World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 1(1), 16–20.

  4. Mental Health Foundation. (2021, October 4). Stigma and discrimination. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/a-z-topics/stigma-and-discrimination 

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