Lesson 4 – The Stigma of Mental Illness
Materials Used: Kutcher, S., & Wei, Y. (2022, March 1). Mental health literacy. Mental Health Literacy. Retrieved October 1, 2022, from https://mentalhealthliteracy.org/
Introduction
Stigma acts as a barrier to people seeking help for mental health problems and mental illness. Understanding mental illness and treatments can help dispel misconceptions and stigma. People’s attitudes about mental illness can be positively influenced by exposure to accurate information. We all have a responsibility to fight the stigma associated with mental illness.
Activity #1 – Defining Stigma Discussion
Questions to Guide Discussion:
- What does the word “stigma” mean?
• What are some of the negative things you have heard about people with mental illness?
(Possible answers may include: violence, bizarre behaviour)
• What are some of the positive things you have heard about mental illness?
(Possible responses may include: link to creativity)
• Why do you think people with mental illness are stigmatized?
(possible answers include: they are seen as being different, people don’t really know the facts about mental illness, etc.)
• Can you think of any other health conditions or social issues that have been stigmatized throughout history?
(Possible answers include: homosexuality, Leprosy, AIDS, unwed motherhood, divorce, Cancer, etc.)
• What kinds of factors have contributed to changing public attitudes around some of these conditions or issues?
(Possible answers include: education, public policy, open dialogue, scientific research, legislation changing social norms, better knowledge, etc.)
• What do you think influences perceptions about mental illness?
(Possible answers include: the media – films, news, newspaper headlines and stories that associate people with mental illness with violence, the fact that people with mental illness sometimes behave differently, people are afraid of what they don’t understand, etc.)
• How do you think stigma affects the lives of people with mental illness?
(Possible answers include: people decide not to get help and treatment even though they would benefit from it, it makes them unhappy, they may not be able to get a job or find housing, it may cause them to lose their friends, it puts stress on the whole family, etc.)
*This activity has been adapted from Talking About Mental Illness, CAMH 2001
http://www.camh.net/education/Resources_teachers_schools/TAMI/tami_teachersall.pd
Activity #2 – Myth Busting PowerPoint
Discover some of the myths about mental health in Mental Illness Myths
Activity #3 – Digital Story Telling
View the following video to understand the person behind the mental illness.
Discussion:
- How does what you heard change your ideas about a person living with a mental illness?
Activity #4 – Famous Individuals Who Have Lived With Mental Illness
You would be surprised to know how many well-known individuals have lived with a mental illness and become incredibly successful. See the PowerPoint below to learn about many famous individuals who have overcome their mental illnesses.
Did you know – Famous People Living with Mental Illness
Activity #5 – Stigma in the Media Reflection
Purpose: to help students evaluate how the media can either positively promote or mislead audiences when it comes to mental health and mental illnesses.
Reflection: Unit 1 Lesson #4 – Does the media/character you selected add to or reduce the stigma of the mental illness they represent?
- Choose a character from a movie, television show, or book
- Explain what mental illness they live with
- In your opinion, does the representation of the character add to or reduce the stigma around mental illness?
My Personal Health and Wellness Inquiry
The purpose of your Personal Health and Wellness Inquiry is to create a culminating health and wellness plan. Your plan is created and built by you, based on your own personal inquiry into a number of important questions about your health and wellness. It is a journey of learning more about yourself, exploring a variety of valuable topics, and understanding how they relate to you. You will use each lesson’s topic as a springboard to the begin your personal inquiry. It is expected that you will refine and improve your responses, as you gain more knowledge and understanding, until the final product is completed in grade 10. A draft will be submitted at the end of each of the three units.
Steps
- Open your Office 365 Word document titled My Personal Health and Wellness from Unit 1 lesson 1
- Create a Heading – Unit 1 Lesson #4 – Does the media/character you selected add to or reduce the stigma of the mental illness they represent?
- Using information provided in this unit, personal reflection, and additional research, answer the question above to the best of your ability in complete sentences. Please feel free to use real life examples whenever applicable.
Additional Resources
Talking About Stigma on YouTube:
TEDxYouth – Kevin Breel: Confessions of a Depressed Comic:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYs05qPycYQ
What is one in five?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXstX0wUOVg
TEDxTalks – Alicia Raimundo – Mental Health Superhero:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=blSkkwcy4uo&feature=player_embedded
Useful Self-Education
Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health: Evidence In-Sight: Effective Stigma Reduction Strategies in Child and Youth Mental Health
www.excellenceforchildandyouth.ca/sites/default/files/resource/EIS_Stigma_Reduction_Strategies.pdf
Semantic Scholar: Evidence for effective interventions to reduce mental health-related stigma and discrimination in the medium and long term: systematic review
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Evidence-for-effective-interventions-to-reduce-and-Mehta-Clement/494d9cb5593143737956c7e381b170e3c5b4f8ca
Cancer and Stigma: A Brief History
http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK12903/