Stigma is a Burden on Us All, Especially the Mentally Ill, so why is it Still Around?
Armen Berenson
HST - 401
Professor John Horgan
February 28, 2023
Stigma is a Burden on Us All, Especially the Mentally Ill, so why is it Still Around?
There is an interplay to be understood about how individuals interact with society as a whole and how societal views impact the individual. In modern America, that story is historically gruesome regarding the mentally ill and the way they have been treated, both medically and personally. Ultimately, we compose the sum outlook on these issues, but the existing ideas and reactions we experience in the face of mental illness have a lot of power over us, too. If we can change our minds and behaviors individually, we can shift the greater narrative we pick up on from a young age and build a more inclusive outlook. So, why do we experience stigma, why has psychological health remained in the dark for so long, and what can we do to move in the right direction?
We need to be able to identify what forms can mental illness take and how it can manifest. Gabor Maté, a physician and renowned addiction expert, dives deeply into the spectrum of psychological expression in his recently released book The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture. In an interview conducted by Ethan Nadelmann on the Psychoactive podcast, Maté shares his main finding from treating addicts for over a decade: “Addictions are rooted in trauma… the common thread is trauma.”. He goes on to outline more of his guiding hypothesis: “What I’m actually arguing,” says Maté, “is that the common denominator in most chronic conditions of mind and body is actually trauma, and this is true whether or not we’re talking about addictions, the so-named mental illnesses, from ADHD to depression to psychosis to bipolar conditions… all these diagnoses have a common thread of trauma,” (Maté). Not only is mental illness a normal human thing, but anyone who has had a traumatic experience, which I would wager is most people, shares more with the actively ill than is overt. Maybe it’s the always unexpected arrival of mental anguish that makes mental health so isolating. It shouldn’t be so hard to share our emotional experiences with others, but it is. Maybe this is why going to the theatre to see a show or film with others is so special; because we get to feel things all in unison. or maybe this is why moments of mass terror have the power to bring people together with such ferocity. Shared experience forms sympathy, and we need sympathy to see the things that connect us all. Looking hard enough we can see that everyone has their struggle, and everyone is reacting to their environment. It’s simple, but this connects us all.
It takes real effort to look within oneself and articulate emotion. Sometimes we just don’t have the words to express what we feel or we fear the judgment that could follow, and this keeps us from talking about our most poignant experiences, which keeps us from growing emotionally as a society. I asked therapist and social worker Tara Sym, LCSW, about the forces driving the trends of increasing tolerance and conversation on mental health recently. Historically speaking, “Nothing was talked about,” says Sym. Some examples she gave of plausible exceptions to this that could shape our ideas of mental health and illness were perhaps an aunt with depression, media depictions of the mad or of drug addicts, and the crazy old man at the end of the cul-de-sac. These are prototypical examples of people with particular neurosis, but these ideas definitely aren’t enough to paint the whole picture. These images of the ill are also just a little scary, and unpleasant to think about. How can we expect a topic to rise out of the realm of a taboo if we are afraid to look at it head-on and talk about it? Facing mental health and accepting psychic disease as a real part of the human condition has let us grow a lot in this area. “Now, most elementary schools have psychologists running curriculum on emotional learning,” says Sym. “It’s not scary or isolating, it’s the normal experience of being human,” (Sym). This lesson has the double benefit of giving children a basic model of navigating difficult emotions -a particularly important skill to have before the hormonal barrage of puberty begins- and teaching sympathy reaffirming the idea that however uniquely, we all have to express and cope somehow. This kind of practice builds emotional intelligence, but more importantly, it helps break down the existing silence surrounding this subject early on in life.
There’s little to no justified reason to fear the mentally ill. Robert Whitaker, a past journalist for the Harvard Med publication now head of Mad in America, the organization named after the book he released in 2003 which puts a spotlight on the dark history of psychiatry. Mad in America outlines decades of mistreatment and bad medicine backed by bad science. To Whitaker, his findings have made clear that “We are organizing ourselves around a false narrative.”... “To be crazy is to be normal,” (Whitaker). Maté would likely agree since the main idea of his latest work is that “Diseases of mind and body in this environment are not abnormal. They are normal responses to what is an abnormal culture,” (Maté). During a group interview alongside my peers, I asked Mr. Whitaker what steps need to be taken to further reduce stigma, to which he replied “We cannot think of these people as ‘the other’,” (Whitaker). He condemns media portrayal of the mentally ill as being disproportionately violent, and the harmful message this sends about an already at-risk sect of society. Backing this up, in a report on research into over 300 mass shootings in the United States in 2022, associate professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University Dr. Ragy R Girgis found no link between serious mental illness and mass shootings (Girgis); however, because the evidence in this field is so misrepresented stigma is perpetuated with each tragic event. Evidently, the fear of those society has deemed abnormal is nothing more than a natural impulse to evade confusing and frightening things, but in reality, this is driven by the fallacy of emotional reasoning.
There is a better world ahead. In the Netherlands, the government has permitted 25 supervised clean injection sites to provide addicts with a safe space during drug use, and ultimately promote recovery. These locations provide a sterile environment with new needles, clean syringes, and medical personnel on standby to give aid in the case of an overdose. Roberto Pérez Gayo, a policy officer working with the Correlation European Harm Reduction Network, and coordinator at the International Network of Drug Consumption Rooms shared his observations in an interview with Bolts digital magazine conducted by Jaisal Noor, saying “‘Suddenly, people that are normally out on the street who are completely alone and isolated find a place where they actually have a connection,’” (Gayo). In his research, he found that these places also act as hubs for people to meet specialists who can provide other services, such as addiction counseling, housing, and medical health care. Countries following in the Netherlands' footsteps are Spain, Switzerland, and Denmark, with a few other developed countries also attempting to follow this approach (Infographic).
Infographic. Location and Number of Drug Consumption Facilities throughout Europe
The future is promising. Already, teachers are preparing the next generation to do better than us at acknowledging our psycho-emotional selves compassionately, without judgment. Simultaneously, a group that is near constantly looked down upon, addicts, are being nurtured instead of being punished. In both cases, positive results can clearly be attributed to a common pattern: acceptance, understanding, and compassion.
Works Cited
Gayo, Roberto Pérez, et al. “In the Netherlands, Safe Drug Consumption Sites Are Saving Lives. The U.S. Is Resisting.” Bolts, 14 Sept. 2022, https://boltsmag.org/safe-injection-sites-netherlands/ .
Girgis, Ragy. “Is There a Link Between Mental Health and Mass Shootings?” Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, 6 July 2022, https://www.columbiapsychiatry.org/news/mass-shootings-and-mental-illness .
Infographic. Location and Number of Drug Consumption Facilities throughout Europe | www.Emcdda.Europa.Eu . https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/media-library/infographic-location-and-number-drug-consumption-room-facilities-throughout-europe_en . Accessed 28 Feb. 2023.
Maté, Gabor. Gabor Maté on Trauma and the Myth of Normal, Interview Conducted by Ethan Nadelmann. https://open.spotify.com/episode/7J6tF8at3xgGpYQe5Bkovg?si=56791cf14c324dd7
Sym, Tara. Interview with Tara Sym. Interview by Armen Berenson, Online Video Interview, 28 Feb. 2023.
Whitaker, Robert. Class Interview with Robert Whitaker. Interview by Armen Berenson, Online Video Interview, 8 Feb. 2023.
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