Mental illness:

?Why care
Farrah Jarral
WHO EMRO
July 2005
But I don’t want to be a
……….psychiatrist
 Mental health issues are a part of
reality

 Mental health issues are unavoidable

 It is important for us to be well informed

about mental illness and to be aware of
our own attitudes towards people with
mental illness
We will all come into contact with
mental illness at some point in our
lives, in
 Ourselves
 Our families
 Our friends
 Our patients
 25% of all people will be affected by mental
and behavioural disorders in their lifetime.

 1 in every 4 consultations with a General

Practitioner involve mental health issues

 A fifth of all patients seen in primary health

care have one or more mental disorders.
 By 2020, mental health disorders are
expected to rank second behind heart
disease.

 Many countries allocate less than 1% of

their total health budgets on mental health
and in half the world's countries there is
just one psychiatrist per 100,000 people.
 STIGMA
Up to two thirds of people suffering
mental disorders will never seek
help because of the discrimination
and stigma attached to such
conditions.
?What is stigma
 Literal definition - OED
 1. A mark made upon the skin by
burning with a hot iron (rarely, by cutting
or pricking), as a token of infamy or
subjection; a brand. Also fig.

 2. fig. A mark of disgrace or infamy; a sign

of severe censure or condemnation,
regarded as impressed on a person or
thing; a ‘brand’
Historical stigma – 17 Century th

“Burglary was punished in all the colonies by

branding with a capital B in the right hand for the
first offense, in the left hand for the second, "and if
either be committed on the Lord's Daye his Brand
shall bee sett on his Forehead as a mark of infamy."
In Maryland, every county was ordered to have
branding irons, with the lettering specifically
prescribed: SL stood for seditious libel and could be
burned on either cheek. M stood for manslaughter,
T for thief, R for rogue or vagabond, F for forger”
A mark of disgrace or infamy
Stigma is the association of negative
characteristics with a certain group of
people, leading to their devaluation in
society, and often overt discrimination.
What is the difference
between stigma and
discrimination?
?Why does stigma matter
 IT STOPS PEOPLE SEEKING HELP

 IT STOPS PEOPLE FROM SEEKING THE

APPROPRIATE HELP

 IT STOPS PEOPLE FROM COMPLYING

WITH TREATMENT

 FEAR OF STIGMA CAN LEAD FAMILIES

TO PREVENT ILL MEMBERS FROM
SEEKING HELP
 Stigma leads to isolation, shame, guilt,
fear, sadness, embarrassment and low
self-esteem
 It affects not only those with mental
illness, but their families as well.
 It is a significant barrier to mental health in
the world.
 NEGATIVE ATTITUDES TOWARDS
MENTAL ILLNESS ARE WIDESPREAD
US Surgeon General’s Report 1999

STIGMA IS A BARRIER TO URGENT

MENTAL HEALTH CARE IN MORE THAN
HALF OF AMERICANS WHO NEED IT
“As the world’s leading public health agency,
WHO has one and only one option – to
ensure that ours will be the last generation
that allows shame and stigma to rule over
science and reason”
– Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland
What can we do to help in the fight
against the stigma of mental
?illness
In a study in Egypt which looked at people’s
knowledge and attitudes towards mental
illness, the two main sources of knowledge
about mental illness were identified as :

 THE TV
 DOCTORS
www.rcpsych.ac.uk