Stopping Mental Illness Stigma: Changing Attitudes, Language, and Policies

Stigma has been a pervasive and stubborn part of the mental illness landscape, but it need not be. This article explores the nature of mental health stigma, where it comes from, how it is manifested, how it harms people, and what can be done about it. The article articulates the need to clearly understand three major levels of mental health stigma—structural (e.g., laws and policies in society, institutions, and organizations), social (e.g., biases and attitudes toward others), and self (e.g., beliefs and feelings that those with mental health conditions have about themselves). Psychiatrists, psychologists, medical doctors, and counselors have, unfortunately, too often reinforced these mental health stigmas through policies, practices, and discourse. This article provides tips and strategies for collective and individual stigma reduction, with a particular focus on what mental health practitioners can do attitudinally, linguistically, and behaviorally.