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Dear Readers,
I was contemplating a topic for the blog on mental health and felt like I must discuss the stigma attached to mental health. Stigma is defined as unfavorable attitudes and beliefs directed toward someone or something. Stigma largely stems from a lack of understanding and fear about an issue or an illness. Let us understand this by the example of Leprosy. India has been successful in eradicating this disease but the journey was not easy. For long the disease was considered as the punishment for the sins or a curse and those affected were treated as outcasts and isolated from the mainstream society. Similar was the case with Vitiligo. People with the whitening of the skin or children born with such conditions were looked down upon and considered ‘different’ in a negative manner. In both the instances, one can understand that the stigma was the result of the lack of understanding of the diseases, and their causes and was impacted by the cultural beliefs and settings of those times.
Stigma manifests in forms such as self-stigma, perceived stigma, labeled stigma, social stigma, and enacted stigma. I would like to base my understanding on social stigma first. This as I explained earlier is because the society or people in general share negative thoughts about individuals or illnesses. The same emerges due to the beliefs, value systems, culture, or at times religious dogmas. All the other forms of stigma then spiral up from the social stigma. People who often suffer from illness or conditions that have a high stigma attached give in to the larger negative perceptions of the society and as a result, fall prey to self-blame or self-incrimination. The toll that plays here is the feeling of ‘guilt’ or `internalized shame’
We as a society have mastered the art of the feeling of guilt for the things that happen due to a certain chain of events and might have no involvement of ours. Well, this again is related to the moral and ethical considerations embodied culturally and through religious dogma. The next one is perceived stigma, which concerns the expected reaction of others towards yourself even if you want to talk about your condition. Similarly labeled sigma is when an individual is defined by his or her illness rather than who they are as an individual. People stereotype and label them in all derogatory forms that further impact the individual. The last is the enacted stigma in the form of discrimination. It’s when the society and people around us start letting their stigma into action, the most common one is by isolating the individuals suffering from them mainstream. The dangerous actions are the abuse in various forms, emotional, verbal, and at times physical (violence and hate crimes).
Let us understand why all these forms of stigma exist. The ‘silence’ around mental health has a role to play. “We can no longer afford to be silenced by stigma that portrays (mental health) conditions as a matter of weakness or moral failing.” These are the words of Lady Gaga, an American singer, songwriter and performer, and most importantly an advocate for mental health. She is absolutely bang on in highlighting an important element of the stigma attached to mental health, ‘the silence’. This silence is not golden. This silence is more lethal than the illness itself. It is important to break the silence and tell the stories behind them. At this point I would like the readers to go through a very inspiring page https://www.mannmela.in/this is a ‘museum of young people’s mental health stories from across India’. A page was created to break the silence and tell the stories of struggle and courage.
The sole way to mitigate the stigma existing around mental health is to talk about mental health, and mental wellness and to share the stories. At Praan we have a firm belief that our stories and our experience sharing will help shed the stigma around mental health. This is much more impactful than any intervention in the world. Stories are means to express the emotions, thoughts, and feelings of an individual. Stories create a personal impact on the reader and a great deal of relatability is established. Stories can lead to discussions and help normalizing and de-stigmatizing mental health. Stories can educate and create awareness. Stories can empower the readers and can motivate them to come forward to share their journey. Let’s break the stigma by sharing our stories. Let our stories be the voice that breaks the silence. We would appreciate it if anyone of you if you want to share your stories in the form of blogs or articles or even by participating in the support group and the volunteering initiative at Praan.
I end here with a quote from Muriel Rukeyser, an American poet, playwright, biographer, children’s book author, and political activist. “The universe is made of stories, not of atoms”.
