FIGHT MENTAL ILLNESS STIGMA

 
WHAT THE WORLD OWES TO PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS: 
Tourette syndrome:
(chemical unbalance)

 Mozart: composer  Dan akroid: actor  Mark summers: enterteiner

Mood disorders:

 Abraham lincoln: politician (was president of the united states)

 Ben stiller: actor/comedian    Jim carrey: actor/comedian

Obcessive compulsive disorder:

 Michaelangelo: painter   Donald trump: successful business
man

 Albert Einstein: scientist   David beckam: soccer player

 Leonardo dicaprio: actor   
WHEN WE LOOK AT THIS FACES WE SEE HOW REDUCING THE STIGMA UPON MENTAL ILLNESS, AND HOW UNFAIR...

TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE STIGMA I WOULD LIKE YOU TO SEE THESE VIDEOS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHJsB9V3i1M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0BFzvjkDcc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw_I-G1smoo

"...Patients At Mental Hospital In Bosnia Abandoned (headline of a newspaper)July 20, 1993

"...Social stigma towards mental illness exists in every society, including Canada and the United States of America. Yet the extent of such stigma varies according to the cultural and sociological backgrounds of each society. The purpose of this article is an attempt to examine the specific factors which lead to the social stigma towards mental illness in the Chinese community at large.

Culturally, most Chinese tend to hide their feelings in comparison to their western counterparts. Indeed, there is a famous Chinese saying which said that "family shame should be kept inside the house."(http://www.pendulum.org/articles/articles_misc_chinesestyle.html)

"...

The eyes of the mentally ill are lost but not vacant, as they stare past visitors who enter Eugene Richards' exhibit at the Gage Gallery of Roosevelt University, titled A Procession of Them: The Plight of the Mentally Disabled. Through his volunteer work with the human rights organization Mental Disability Rights International, Richards experienced and photographed the nightmare of concentration camp like conditions, serving to hold the mentally ill in countries including Mexico, Argentina, Hungary, Paraguay, and Kosovo.

"There's an old woman who's been here about forty years, left over from the past," describes a grandmotherly woman who should be in a warm bed, surrounded by loving friends and relatives at the end of her life. Instead she stands alone in Richards' photo, completely forgotten by the outside world. Quotes from prisoners and others involved in the travesty of these institutions scatter the walls, and offer further emotional context to the incomprehensible reality confronted by this series of photographs..."(http://gapersblock.com/ac/art/)

THE WORLD OWES A LOT, TO A LOT OF MENTALY ILL FAMOUS PEOPLE, AT THIS WEBSITE YOU CAN SEE PLENTY OF THEM:
http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/article_0060.shtml

Tourette syndrome:
(neurological)


%uFFFD..No, this article has nothing to do with fundamentalism or doomsday prophecies. I do, however, think "the Beast" is an apt description of mental illness and we, ourselves, are beasts of burden who must bear the weight of the suffering and stigma it causes. Whether there is a mark upon us literally as with the young author of Label Maker, who must wear a Medic-Alert bracelet with the words MANIC DEPRESSIVE engraved on it, or simply scars upon our psyches, we live with the stigma of it everyday. People with mental illness are called "nuts", "crazy", "cuckoo", "not playing with a full deck", the list goes on and on.
There is a stereotype of those with mental illness as behaving in bizarre ways, being unkempt and dirty, and being dangerous to be around. Those with depression are often further labeled as "lazy" or "malingering".

A post I found on a depression message board illustrates the pain that these stereotypes can cause. The incident this woman wrote about occurred 30 years ago but could just as easily have happened today.

http://depression.about.com/cs/stigma/a/markofthebeast.htm

[PDF]

Fact sheet on what is stigma

%uFFFD... loneliness, isolation and social exclusion ... Stigma worsens a person's illness and can lead to a reluctance to seek and/or accept necessary help. ... For mental health professionals, stigma means that they themselves are seen as ...
www.health.wa.gov.au/.../Mental_Illness/Mentalhealth_stigma_fact.pdf  (Google search)

%uFFFD..ER Docs Report Large Increase In Psychiatric Patients ...

• de K Mulligan - 2004 - A press release on the survey, titled %u201CEmergency Departments See Dramatic Increase in People with Mental Illness Seeking Care,%u201D is posted online ...
  pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/39/12/10.2.full.
  
  THOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN AN INCRESE IN MENTAL ILLNESSES RATES, IT IS STILL SEEN WITH ON RATHER  DIFFERENT PRISM, AS IF A PACIENT WITH, SAY, A KIDNEY CONDITION, WERE MORE RESPECT WORTHY, AS IF BEEING MENTALY ILL WAS A CHOICE...
  AND THEREFORE, THE SUFFERING IS DOUBLE: SUFFERING WITH THE SOCIETY COMMENTS, CRUELTY AND OSTRACISM, AND SUFFERING ENOURMOUSLY WITH THE MENTAL ILLNESS THA BY ITSELF EVEN WITH  WITH NO BULLYING, DESPISE OR MOCKERY. OF COURSE, IF THEY ARE ALLREADY IN PAIN, LISTENING TO INSULTS OR BEEING DEPRIVED FROM OPPORTUNITIES IN GETTING A JOB, OR BEEING SOCIALY ISOLATED BY OTHERS.
  
  UNLIKE WHAT MANY PEOPLE THINKS; THERE ARE MORE MENTALY HEALTHY MEN IN PRISON FOR VIOLENTE CRIMES THAN MENTALY ILL.
  
  THEY CAN BE PRODUCTIVE! IN FACT THE WORLD DOESN`T KNOW JUST HOW MUCH IT OWES TO THEM: MANY IMPORTANT PERSONALITIES IN WORLD HISTORY, WERE IN FACT, MENTALY ILL, AND YET : MORE INTELLIGENT, AND, OR MORE CRIATIVE.
  
  THE ONLY WAY TO FIGHT STIGMA, IS FIGHTING IGNORANCE: BRINGING INFORMATION TO PEOPLE. PEOPLE STILL HAVE MANY MISCONCEPTION ON DISTINGUISH MENTAL ILLNESSES FROM OTHER HEALTH CONDITIONS LIKE CEREBRAL PALSY, AND END UP BEEING INCONVINIENT. THE MEDIA CAN PLAY A PART IN SOLVING THIS UNJUSTICE OVER THE MENTAL ILL. ALSO ORGANIZATIONS SPECIALIZED AND DIRECTED TO THE SUBJECT. WHY SHOULD A KIDNEY ILL BE MORE RESPECTABLE THAN A MENTALY ILL? THE BRAIN IS AN ORGAN! AND MANY TIMES CHEMICAL UNBALANCES ARE THE CAUSE FOR SOME BEHAVIORS OR FEELINGS.
  
  THE SOCIAL STIGMA MAKES THE FAMILY OF THE PACIENT SUFFER ASWELL
  
  ISOLATION WORSENS THE MENTAL STATE
  
  THE MENTAL ILLNESSES RATES ARE INCREASING, AND SO NOBODY IS IMMUNE.
  
  WE WANT:
  
• The media to inform about each illness, fight old myths, and talk about the contribute of the mentaly ill throughout History, so that the world may see how much it owes them (that would help).
• The specialized entities to take action in campaigns, education and information, and also, help finding the cure, the better treatments and a place for all: rich or poor.

Thank you so much for your time.