Needed: A New Stigma Battle Plan

Who knew? Seems people in general don't buy the "disease like any other disease" argument used prominently by health care providers and advocates to reduce the stigma of mental illness. That's the conclusion of study results released by Indiana University and Columbia University in mid-September and published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. The researcher found that "prejudice and discrimination in the U.S. aren't moving...In fact, in some cases, it may be increasing..."

Stigma is a big problem. It produces discrimination. It negatively impacts quality of life. And most of all, it perpetuates the devaluation of persons afflicted by the illnesses and the services they need. This, in turn, pushes mental health services further to the edge of the plate of public support and funding.

The study suggests that stigma reduction efforts would do better to focus on the person rather than the disease - emphasizing the abilities and competencies of people with mental illness. The authors also suggest that the hymns need to move well beyond the choir.

If you think about it, isn't that the model of cancer fighting advocates? They focus on the victory, the recovery, the triumph - not on the disease.

These findings give us all a challenge - to re-think our thoughts, re-think our expressions and re-focus our attention where they always should have been - on the people, not the disease.