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Put simply, ‘mental health’ refers to the entirety of well-being, including its social, psychological, emotional, and physical aspects as well as its relationship to our physical health. It includes all of our actions, sentiments, and coping mechanisms that we employ in the face of difficulties. Mental health stigma refers to when someone is treated negatively because of their mental illness. The lack of knowledge about mental health goes hand in hand with the mental health stigma. Unfortunately, mental health stigma exists even today. In some parts of the world, it is more pronounced than in others, but it is a topic that should be addressed openly and with a lot of attention.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more people have started to recognize the importance of one’s mental health and well-being. For the majority of people, it was the first time they encountered a lack of freedom, isolation from others, and living in constant fear of not getting infected, or not infecting their loved ones. These conditions led to an increase in the levels of anxiety, stress, loneliness, and depression. Due to these unfortunate conditions, people across the world have begun to pay more attention to their mental health and dedicate themselves to actually working on it. This has been an important step towards accepting how we feel and not being reluctant to ask for help. However, many things influence how mental health is perceived, such as culture, history, society, norms, and many more.
Typically, the first impression about someone who goes to a psychotherapist, or some other professional from the field, is negative, because of the assumption that this person has severe problems. Throughout history, in many cultures seeking help from a professional has in fact been viewed with much prejudice. Eventually, this has led to the perception that seeing a professional for mental health problems should be kept a secret. As psychology started to progress as a science in the late 19th and early 20th century, more emphasis was put on the topic of mental health and, thankfully, more people started accepting to openly talk about it.
However, in most countries mental health stigma still exists, primarily among elderly people. This could be due to the reasons previously mentioned, such as thinking of it as a taboo topic, associating it with severe mental problems, not being open to learn more about it, and many more. Hence, most of the elderly do not take seriously the importance of mental health and well-being, and instantly assume that someone who is going to psychotherapy must be ‘crazy’ or ‘mad’. This makes it harder to reeducate them on these kinds of topics. This phenomenon can be clearly seen especially in countries where patriarchy and conservative ways of thinking still rule. Instead, in other countries such as Sweden, people generally have a positive view of psychologists and mental health is prioritized in society. Moreover, support groups and discussion groups in schools are normalized and even encouraged among people. In Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands mental health policies are mandatory in almost all workplaces, which nowadays is very important as more and more people put their careers as a priority and seek professional success. This therefore implies a life focused on one’s career, developing specialized skills, and devoting a great deal of energy to work-related activities, all of which contribute to increasingly demanding, time-consuming, and “robotic” everyday lives.
In less developed countries, characterized by low employment rates, socioeconomic problems, low education rates, limited access to healthcare, and political instability, mental health stigma is, as said before, more pronounced. From the perspective of the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it is necessary to fulfill one’s basic physiological and safety needs in order to progress toward one’s self-actualization, or in other words one’s full potential. Thus, in such countries where it is unable, or less likely, to fulfill the basic needs first, a highly developed awareness and consciousness are harder to reach. However, many less developed countries are actively working to improve mental healthcare access, reduce stigma, and promote mental well-being.
In recent years, the emphasis of reducing mental health stigma around the world, and promoting greater understanding, acceptance, and support for individuals with mental health challenges can be clearly seen through anti-stigma campaigns, mental health day, workplace initiatives, education, awareness campaigns, and many more. Mental health is starting to get the proper recognition it deserves as it is finally being recognized, understood, and nurtured.
Mila Tončić
Bibliography
Department of Health & Human Services. (2015, September 18). Stigma, discrimination and mental illness. Better Health Channel. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/servicesandsupport/stigma-discrimination-and-mental-illness
Mauve Group. (2023, September 18). Which countries mandate workplace mental health policies? https://mauvegroup.com/innovation-hub/blog/which-countries-mandate-workplace-mental-health-policies
Hopper, E. (2020, February 24). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs explained. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-4582571
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