Discuss the stereotypes and the stigmas that are faced by the sufferers.
According to the National Survey of Mental Health and Well-being, conducted by Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2018), 45% of the adult population (16 to 85 years) residing in Australia suffers from mental health disorder at some point of time in their life. This percentage of population is estimated to be 8.5 million people in the year 2015. The common mental health disorder popular among the Australian population is anxiety disorders like social phobia and this affects one out of seven people (14.4%) in the population. Other mental health disorders include affective disorders (depressive syndromes) and substance abuse disorders like alcohol dependence. Not only the young and the older adults, children also suffer from mental health problems. Children between of age group of 4 to 17 years suffer from anxiety disorders, depressive disorders and conduct disorders. Apart from this, attention deficient hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) are also popular among the children of Australia.
Keeping this high rate of occurrence of mental health disorders in Australian population into consideration, this assignment aims to analyse stereotype and stigma associated with the mental health complications via a means of comprehensive literature review.
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Search Terms |
Boolean Operators Used |
Year Limit |
Database |
Articles Retrieved |
Articles Selected |
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Mental Health and Environment |
AND |
2012 to 2017 |
ProQuest |
10 |
3 |
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Mental Health and culture |
AND |
2012 to 2017 |
ProQuest |
12 |
2 |
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Mental Health and adaptive ability |
AND |
2012 to 2017 |
ProQuest |
7 |
2 |
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Mental Health and family relation |
AND |
2012 to 2017 |
ProQuest |
20 |
2 |
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Mental Health and profession |
AND |
2012 to 2017 |
ProQuest |
25 |
3 |
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Mental Healthand antecedentsAND |
AND |
2012 to 2017 |
PubMed |
15 |
3 |
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Mental health and resilience |
AND |
2012 to 2017 |
ProQuest |
8 |
2 |
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Mental health and attachment |
AND |
2012 to 2017 |
ProQuest |
17 |
3 |
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Mental health and sense of belonging |
AND |
2012 to 2017 |
ProQuest |
17 |
4 |
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Mental health and empowerment |
AND |
2012 to 2017 |
ProQuest |
20 |
3 |
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All of the above |
AND |
2012 to 2017 |
Google Scholar |
50 |
30 |
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Inclusion criteria |
Exclusion criteria |
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Language: English (UK and US and Australia) |
Languages other than English |
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Year of publication: 2012 to 2018 |
Older than 2012 |
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Primary and Secondary |
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Qualitative and Quantitative |
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Health issues related to mental illness |
Health issues not related to mental illness |
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Study conducted on human subjects |
Study conducted other than human subject |
Source: Created by author
Environment, Culture and Adaptive Ability
Environment and Mental Health
According to Bratman, Hamilton and Daily (2012), environment has a huge impact on over the mental health along with cognitive functions of an individual. Van Dyck et al. (2015) is of the opinion that personal safety, the physical activity in the neighbourhood, social support for physical and professional activity from friends and family and social cohesion in neighbourhood is positively associated with the mental-health and quality of life of an individual. Apart from the manual assistance coming from the surrounding environment, nature also helps to shape up the mental health. According to Triguero-Mas et al. (2015), green and open spaces are associated with better mental health outcomes across different strata of urbanization along with other socio-economic status and genders. These kinds of associations are more consistent for the surrounding greeneries in comparison to independent ratio of urbanization.
Culture and Mental Health
According to Bhugra and Poole (2012), culture is an abstract concept that refers to shared or learned patterns of perceiving and adapting to the world that is reflected under the shared or learned beliefs, attitudes, values and behavioural characteristics of a society or a group of population. Thus it can be said that culture provides normative standards of behavioural outcomes while regulating what a person ought not to or ought to do under any given situation. In other words it can be said that culture modulates the psychological behaviour of a person or a group of population. According to the reports published by Jorm et al. (2012), aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders are more prone to suffer from mental health complications in comparison to Australian originals. This inequality in mental health mostly rises from poor culture, low socio-economic status, lack of proper educational background and lack of awareness of disease and its subsequent treatment.
Adaptive Ability and Mental Health
According to Davis & Humphrey (2012a), adaptive ability has close association with emotional intelligence of a person. Davis & Humphrey (2012a) further opined that emotional intelligence influences mental health through nimble selection of the coping strategies and modification of the effectiveness of coping strategies. This high level of emotional intelligence magnifies the positive effects of active coping while reducing the effects of avoidant coping to decrease symptomotology. This increase in the coping strategies helps to cope up with the escalating amount of stress, anxiety and depression and thereby helping to maintain a stable mental health conditions. This adaptive ability also has profound influence over the mental health of the adolescent. According to Davis & Humphrey (2012b),improvement of the emotional intelligence helps in the increase in the adaptive ability of a child and helps to cope up with the mental complications beyond their personality and cognitive ability. In details it can be said that emotional intelligence helps to cope up with depression and disruptive behaviour and thereby helping to maintain a stable mental health condition.
Family, community, professional services, government policy and empowerment
Role of family in mental health
According to the reports published by Umberson, Thomeer and Williams (2013), family plays a determining role in the maintaining the mental health of an individual. Their research report highlighted that the marriage is beneficial for the mental health of men in comparison to that of the female while on the other hand, parenthood is associated with the psychological distress among the women and the situation is more alarming among the single parents who are young. Apart from the turmoil among the family relationships which creates and thereby leading to dis-equilibrium in mental health, family reported cases of complex mental health disorders or presence of palliative care patients also hampers the mental health of family members and their carers. According to Lavretsky et al. (2013), the group of carers or the family members providing care to the dementia patients suffers from compassion, fatigue, burnout and stress and this results in increase in depression and along with anxiety which hampers the mental health of those individuals. Lavretsky et al. (2013), proposed for daily medication practise in order to cope up with compassion fatigue.
Community and mental health
According to the reports published by Corrigan, Druss and Perlick (2014), the impact of mental health stigma effects the community participation of the individuals suffering from mental illness. However, optimal community participation helps in overcoming certain mild to moderate mental health disorders along with improvement of the severe mental health complications like depression. Community level participation mainly increases the level of social participation along with interactions and disease awareness which help to fight back against mental health complications accordingly. In other aspect of community it can be said that proper public health literary in the community level, in the domain of mental health will help in early prevention, intervention and treatment. The community level knowledge in the domain of healthcare mostly includes proper recognition of the developing disorders, public health knowledge regarding how to prevent this mental disorders, proper recognition of the disorder in its early stage(Jorm, 2012).
Professional service and its impact on mental health
The stress and anxiety associated with the professional life affects the mental health balance of an individual. The main victims of this professional stress and anxiety are the healthcare professionals (van Mol et al. 2015). According to the research reports published by Hegneyet al. (2014), registered nurses in Australia suffer from compassion fatigue, stress and anxiety. The research highlighted that the increase in the work-pressure, lack of recreation, less man-power and lack of acknowledgement increases the job stress along with job dis-satisfaction; this increases the state of mental health depression and the increase in the sense of compassion fatigue further increases the chronicity of depression. As a result of this depression the nurses at times execute negative behaviours with the patients. This same kind of job stress is also application to other spheres of population. vanMol et al. (2015) have opined that psychosocial capacity building interventions will provide positive benefits towards reduction in the mental health complications.
Government Policy and Planning in Mental Heath
The mental health policy as drafted by the government of Australia is mostly directed towards the person centred support services, connected approaches and balanced investments. Moreover, the Fifth National Mental Health Plan Australia (2018) mainly covers the priority in mental health for the next five years. One of the main areas highlighted in the fifth national mental health framework is establishing mental health equality among the aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander people and provided person centred care plan for the adult group of population. According to Joffreset al. (2013) older adults and aboriginals are the prime victims of the mental health complications. The Fifth National Mental Health Plan also focuses on the increase in the suicidal activity of the individuals suffering from depression.
Antecedent
This refers to stimulus that act as skills and help organisms to perform learned behaviour. Upon perceiving an antecedent stimulus individuals behave in a way that is found to maximize reinforcing consequences, which in turn minimises consequences that might be punishing (Benner and Graham 2013). Characteristics of stigma that are demonstrated against people suffering from mental illnesses are often categorised into a range of antecedents, consequences and attributes. One particular study was able to use the method of Walker and Ant with the aim of reporting on the concept of stigma related to mental illness that exists in the Haitian American community. The research helped in identifying five major attributes such as, stereotype, negative attitude, labeling, discrimination, and emotional response, which act as major antecedents for stigma of mental illness (Dieujuste 2016). Mental conditions may or may not develop repeated physical repercussions. Several individuals have been identified who lack knowledge of such existing mental diseases. The general lack of understanding often makes them display a discriminating attitude towards the people suffering from mental illness, by making the former hold a negative perception. This acts as a major barrier that leads to millions of people suffering from mental disorders from feeling socially isolated, thereby preventing them from seeking on-time medical health and appropriate care services (Corrigan, Druss and Perlick 2014). This stereotype creates significant negative effects and delays their recovery, adding to their distress.
Such discrimination is often linked to negative stereotyping and prejudicial attitudes. Similar findings have been reported by other research studies that have found a close association between discrimination in housing, employment, or other services towards people having mental disorders. This often leads to a lack of employment opportunity and appropriate housing facility for the sufferers (Mizock and Mueser 2014). Other authors have opined that displaying a negative attitude towards the people often leads to a failure in socially including them in the mainstream society. The most common antecedent has been associated with the fact that majority of people believe and considered mentally ill patients to be dangerous and violent, thereby discriminating them from the rest of the society (Drapalski et al. 2013). This impedes the process of getting treatment on healthcare services. Further evidences have also been provided that suggests the influence of discrimination and social stigma in trapping those people in a cycle of illness, which further worsens their situation. Further studies have also confirmed the fact that recognition of the existing stigma on social cues helps healthcare professionals to develop policies and strategies that have been proved effective in mitigating the effects of stigmatization among this target population.
Resilience
Resilience has been defined by researchers as the process that encompasses adapting to the face of trauma, adversity, threats, or tragedy that creates stress among people suffering from serious mental problems. It has often been identified as a defence mechanism that enables people to thrive during adversities and has been recognised as an essential target for mental treatment. Research evidences have been successful in demonstrating the effectiveness of resilience in the form of a capacity of the people suffering from mental health diseases, to adapt in the face of challenging circumstances, while maintaining their stable mental state (Power et al. 2016). There is a consensus among the healthcare professionals that mental health is generally a positive state that involves thriving, flourishing, and meeting the actual potential in life. Similar findings have also reported that stigma often leads to a reduction in health seeking behavior, thereby contributing to a decrease in resilience. Several others also postulated that an appropriate health seeking behaviour among people suffering from mental disorder leads to an increase in resilience, and helps them confront the situation, leading to a subsequent reduction in stigma they are subjected to (Wright, Masten, and Narayan 2013).
Attachment
Attachment insecurity has also been recognised as a general vulnerability to the onset of mental disorders among individuals. Researchers have provided evidences that reveal presence of gender differences in attachment to parents. Males have provided reports of stronger attachment, when compared to females (Okello et al. 2014). Moreover, parental attachment has also been identified to play a protective function against onset of anxiety and depressive symptoms among individuals. Thus, alienation from the society and discrimination by the community members and family are independently associated with an increase in security of mental health symptoms. Attachment dimensions have also been identified as major predictors of the psychosocial well being and mental health of individuals (Reupert, Maybery and Kowalenko 2013). Recognition of four different attachment styles in children namely, secure, anxious-avoidant, anxious-ambivalent and disorganised have been found to promote a sense of belonging and security among children and adolescents. The existing stereotypes and stigma often make it difficult for patients to form a part of the community.
Sense of belonging and empowerment
Lack of the sense of belonging and attachment can therefore act as possible predictors for loneliness, psychosocial disturbance and emotional distress, thereby contributing to the severity of mental illness (Gelkopf and Jabotaro 2013). Similar findings have also been suggested by authors whose state that people suffering from mental health problems often have a lack of voice due to the discrimination they face on a regular basis (Krajewski, Burazeri and Brand 2013). They are generally not involved in decision making processes that pertain to mental health services, and continue to be at an increased risk of stereotype and social exclusion, in all facets of their life. Failure to empower such patients to exit their opinion related to their own health and wellbeing often worsens their symptoms. Mental health services and care plans that adopt empowering attitude and practices towards individuals with mental illness have been successful in eliminating and discarding this empowerment and discrimination, prevalent in the society (Girma et al. 2013). These have shown detect benefits on the quality of life of the individual. Empowering such individuals in the course of the recovery has shown direct benefits in facilitating their recovery.
An analysis of the aforementioned literature suggests that environment is able to create direct or indirect effects on the mental health of an individual. Physical environment in which a person lives often plays a crucial role in altering the psychosocial processes, thereby affecting the mental faculties. Built environment encompasses man-made surroundings that act as the setting where an individual works and lives, such as, parks, neighborhood, cities, and buildings. Either alone or in combination with a range of physiological and psychosocial stresses, the environment can bring about changes in mental illnesses (Mitchell 2013). An encounter or experience within the natural environment has also been found to produce differential effects on prevalence of human stress physiology. The effects of broader culture on the process of accepting mental health problems are underestimated. Cultural beliefs, values and traditions help in shaping attitudes towards the mentally ill. Efforts should also be taken to alter the meanings of mental illnesses that are deep seated in the attitudes and beliefs. There is a need to identify the preferences and demands of all individuals suffering from mental illness by addressing their cultural beliefs traditions and values (Allen et al. 2014). Family support acts as a corner stone for mental health sufferers and directly influences the recovery process. Family members should take efforts to eliminate all kinds of negative attitudes and discrimination towards the sufferers, and should also engage effectively during the therapeutic treatment process, to provide support to the patience to manage there illness (Chronister, Chou and Liao 2013).
The mental health policies implemented by the government also work towards removing all the existing stigma and stereotypes in the society and work towards tattling mental health disorders and associated disabilities. These policies define a vision for the future which helps them established benchmark for treatment prevention and rehabilitation of mental disorder while promoting mental health of all individuals who are a part of the community (Laudet and Humphreys 2013). Efforts must also be taken to recognise the basic antecedents that increase the susceptibility of an individual from feeling isolated or not being considered the part of the society due to preconceived notions and myths regarding mental illness. Creating provisions that help such individuals to develop a sense of belonging an attachment with their family and peers, along with appropriate empowerment that facilitates the process of being involved in the treatment process, will greatly help the mental health sufferers and remove the social stigma that is attached to mental illness.
Conclusion
To conclude, it can be stated that most people who live with mental illness are blamed for their condition and the illegally discriminated against without any justice. The lives of people suffering from mental health diseases are often governed by stereotypes as well as discriminations, where they are judged by other individuals based on their state of mind. Such social stigma is commonly characterized by discriminating behaviour and prejudicial attitudes directed towards individual, as a result of the psychiatrist label that they are often given. This often leads to development of self-stigma that significantly affects feelings of shame and results in poor health outcome. Most commonly held beliefs regarding such individuals are that they are dangerous and or prone to participate in self inflicting harmful behaviour. The negative beliefs about these people, regardless of the knowledge about mental diseases and the previous patient history, make it difficult for such people to recover. Efforts must be taken to remove the stigmatizing beliefs from all state of the society and promote family support and attachment to facilitate easy recovery. Removing the stereotypes and stigma will prevent the society from making unintentional or subtle remarks about the vulnerable people.
References
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