In my humble opinion, society would view mental health and physical health problems in an equally serious and acceptable manner.  Unfortunately, a stigma and much misunderstanding exists in our culture about mental illness.  In some ways, increased awareness and research has improved mental health treatment.  But still, there’s something different in our society about discussing overwhelming anxiety as compared to high blood pressure.

First of all, a person experiencing some form of mental distress views the world in a skewed way from the start.  A person with symptoms of mood swings, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts sees things in a more extreme way than they normally would.  They may suddenly feel more embarrassed about admitting they have a problem like this.  They might think their job is at risk.  They might not want anyone to see them as weak.  And this can all be true even if their doctor, friends, and family are warm and accepting people by nature.  And having been through that nightmare myself, I can vouch for that common viewpoint.  Such is the nature of mental illness.

Popular media has been a mixed bag at times.  News highlights sensational stories about postpartum depression leading to infanticide.  National magazines slant stories about mental health issues to fit their demographic audience’s political views.  Celebrities having “mental breakdowns” make the front cover of gossip mags.

But then we’ve also seen more personal stories of mental illness being shared by public figures – movie stars, news anchors, musicians, artists, TV actors.  And some very good stories have been made for TV and film in recent years.  Various national awareness weeks on mental health topics are promoted each year in all forms of media.  Legislation has been passed promoting fairness in mental health insurance coverage.  The number of quality books and websites on postpartum depression alone has increased tremendously compared to just six years ago.

So is the stigma getting better or getting worse?  That is such a hard question to answer in a broad way.  As I see it, there’s a lot of progress yet to be made.  However, we aren’t as far back as we used to be.  I think it depends a lot on the attitudes in your community, your family’s particular viewpoints on mental illness, the treatment options available to you, the coverage offered by your insurance, etc.  All of those factors can have an impact on how you might treat a mental health problem in your family.

In my home town, nobody stated they had any sort of specialty in women’s mental health disorders, much less postpartum depression or PMDD.  I was treated by a very caring professional in a sort of general way for a few sessions.  I did fine after that, but I had really hoped someone would really know what I was talking about back then.

Now, as far as I am aware, I am the only person in my area who professionally states “women’s mental health” as a specialty.  Granted, I’m just one person, but I have increased treatment options for a some people by 100%.  I didn’t experience negative stigma like I wasn’t believed or was denied treatment.  But a limited amount of knowledge left a certain void in my community when I needed it.

Also, I was only provided a few free “employee assistant program” mental health sessions, plus a very limited amount of covered sessions by my family’s insurance – like maybe just a dozen.  Again, not outright treatment denial, but really?  Get your depression done in twelve sessions or less??  I was lucky I rebounded quickly from my symptoms.  Many people are much less fortunate.  Insurance coverage has improved since then, but mental health parity is just in its earliest stages.  I hope for much more progress in the years to come.

I’d like to hear if any of you have felt like a stigma against mental health was harmful to you or a family member.  I’m hopeful that fewer and fewer people even have such concerns as time goes on.  And in fact, please also share any positive story about how you thought you might have problems but you found great compassion and resources.  We don’t hear enough good news these days, and those stories would be great to read.

Comments

This post currently has 16 comments/trackbacks.
You can read the comments or leave your own thoughts.

Trackbacks

From Psych Central's website:
PsychCentral (October 12, 2009)

From Psych Central's website:
PsychCentral (October 12, 2009)

tony serve (October 13, 2009)

kris_burns (October 13, 2009)

StylnanDiChulaKibra (October 13, 2009)

Nicole Jensen (October 15, 2009)

Halloween Edition of the Warrior Mom Roundup: Read other Moms on Postpartum Depression (August 24, 2011)

    Last reviewed: 12 Oct 2009