Source Analysis 1-10

1. APA Citation: Lai, Hong, & Chee. (n.d.). Stigma of Mental Illness. Stigma of
Mental Illness,42(3), 111-114. Retrieved September 1, 2016, from
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.567.9561&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Source Validation: This source is originally from Singapore Medical Journal, but
published by Penn State University.
How did you find this source?: I found this source by searching Stigma of
Mental Health on Google Scholar.
Intended audience: Educated Public
Arguments/topics: Basically this source summarized an experiment conducted to
document the effect of stigmatization of patients with schizophrenia and depression. The
questionnaire revealed that patients felt that the stigmatization worsened their conditions
due to its effect on employability and social acceptability. Not only did they discuss those
with mental illnesses, but also the stigma attached to mental health workers that in fact
discourages many from entering the mental health field. Overall, the authors main goal is
to increase awareness of the topic.
Quotes:
1. RESULTS Among patients with schizophrenia, the negative impact of stigma ...
was difficulty in finding a job (73%). 52% of patients with schizophrenia thought less of
themselves because of their illness; 47% felt ashamed of their illness. 51% of them
thought that neighbours and colleagues would avoid them if they knew of their illness.
Among patients with depression, lowered self esteem (57%) and difficulties in getting a
job (44%). Rejected for insurance 40%
2. ...None of the cardiac patients reported social rejection; in fact, some of them
had experienced favourable responses, such as receiving gifts as a show of sympathy or
words of concern. The cardiac patients did not think less of themselves because of their

illness; however, they did describe feeling vulnerable and were fearful of exerting
themselves lest they should succumb to sudden death. Only 20% of them thought that
their illness might affect their employment adversely; the rest who were working
described how their employers had been accommodating towards them by lightening
their workload.
3. 89% of the patients watched television, 85% of the patients read the newspaper
and 81% of them listened to the radio. They saw stigma as coming from television
programmes, newspaper reports and jokes on the radio. Some were concerned that the
mentally ill were stereotyped as violent and dangerous, or different and laughable.
Proportionately more patients with schizophrenia viewed the various mass media as
contributing to stigma, than patients with depression. 88% of Psych patients saw a need
for public awareness."
4. Table 3: Percentage of Psychiatrists responding affirmatively to being laughed at
for working with psychiatric patients 67%, Psychiatric nurses 58%.
Discouraged by family from joining profession Psychiatrists 29%, Psychiatric Nurses 31%

2. APA Citation: Wig, N. N. (n.d.). Stigma Against Mental Illness. Indian

Psychiatry Journal, 39(3), 187-189.
Source Validation: This source is from Indian Psychiatric Society posted by the
National Center of Biotechnical Information..
How did you find this source?: I found this source by searching Stigma of
Mental Health on Google Scholar.
Intended audience: Mental Health Professionals
Arguments/Topics: In the beginning, this journal focuses more on the change of
perception of those with mental illnesses over time. It then goes on to discuss all the

discrimination those with mental illnesses could face due to the fact that people are not
knowledgeable about the topic of mental health.
Quotes:
1. Stigma against mental illness is probably as old as the civilization itself. There
are references to discrimination on the basis of mental illness in almost all the ancient
books of law ... Unfortunately over the centuries the public attitude has hardened and has
become more irrational against all types of mental disorders.
2. ...we find now gross discrimination against people with mental illness in all
spheres of life like job, housing, marriage, immigration etc., thus greatly reducing the
opportunities for the mentally ill for their rightful participation in the society.
3. "The general trend of the studies carried out in India indicate that the public
including the educated urban groups, are largely uninformed about the various aspects of
mental health. The mentally ill are perceived as aggressive, violent and dangerous. There
is a lack of awareness about the available facilities to treat the mentally ill and a
pervasive defeatism exists about the possible outcome after therapy. There is a tendency
to maintain social distance from the mentally ill and to reject them"
4. Reactions to those with physical illnesses are sympathized with even though those
illnesses may actually be contagious and dangerous (i.e tuberculosis/plague); whereas the
reaction to those with mental illnesses is largely negative since people view them as
strange, crazy, and/or dangerous. The public also seems to lump all the many different
types of mental illnesses together into one.
5. The important question remains how as mental health professionals can we
reduce this stigma against mental illness in the mind of the public? ... through media,
and drugs to further lessen the symptoms of mental illnesses
6. Mental illness needs to be brought out in the open. People must also know about
the positive side of mental illness; for example the evidence is accumulating, how
creativity and mental illness are related.

3.
APA Citation: Corrigan, P. W., Lurie, B. D., Goldman, H. H., Slopen, N.,
Medasani, K., & Phelan, S. (2005, May 01). How Adolescents Perceive the Stigma of
Mental Illness and Alcohol Abuse. Retrieved September 09, 2016, from
http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.ps.56.5.544
Source Validation: This source was published by the American Psychiatric
Association.
How did you find this source?: I found this source by searching Mental Illness
Stigma on Google Scholar.
Intended audience: I believe the intended audience is other psychologists who
want to perform experiments similar to the on they conducted. I say this because they
used a lot of medical jargon, and they left very detailed steps on how to conduct their
experiment.
Arguments/topics (4-7 sentences): The first two sections of this articles are
spent explaining the methods, and the results of an experiment. The goal of the
experiment was to support or oppose previous research done on the stigma of mental
illness compared to the stigmas of alcoholism and physical illnesses. The author believed
that the previous experiments were performed on too small of a sample group (50-100
people), so he wanted to expand it to a larger group of about 750 high school students.
The experiment yielded similar results compared to the ones done previously. The article
concludes with a discussion that needs to be had over the topic of mental illness. In this
discussion, they speak about how many are unaware of what mental illness and
alcoholism truly is. One thing they found interesting about the studies, was that some of
the kids knew someone with a serious mental illness, yet their answers were very similar

to the overall results. They raised the question of is knowing about the mental illness
enough?
Minimum 3 Quotes, Paraphrases, Summaries:
1. First, advocacy and government groups have argued that modifying negative
attitudes among children and adolescents might stop them from developing into adults
who stigmatize persons with mental illness, which can lead to full-blown social injustice
(1,2). Second, differences in cognitive development between adolescents and adults
challenge the simple extrapolation of findings from adult to adolescent samples.
2. [The experiment] showed that alcohol abuse was stigmatized significantly more
than the other illnesses. Leukemia was judged more benignly. Mental illness was
stigmatized more than leukemia for pity, dangerousness, fear, help, and avoidance. These
findings largely correspond with those of Pescosolido and colleagues. Stating that the
mental illness was caused by a brain tumor moderated stigmatizing effects.
3. Overall, people need to be informed about not only mental illness, but alcoholism
and other abuses as well. Many seem to think that these illnesses are a choice rather than
something that just happens such as physical illnesses such as cancer, or even the
common cold. This is a very important step to fighting against the stigma associated with
mental illness and even addiction.
4. A final concern: the purpose of this study was to determine whether
characteristics of adolescence, such as cognitive development, accounted for a different
pattern of stigma from that found among adults. Future research could more directly test
the role of cognitive development by including an independent measure of the construct.
Moreover, future research needs to further extend this discussion by examining how
children who are even younger perceive mental illness.

4.

 APA Citation: Byrne, P. (n.d.). Stigma of mental illness and ways of diminishing
it | BJPsych Advances. Retrieved September 13, 2016, from
http://apt.rcpsych.org/content/6/1/65.short

Source Validation: This source was published by Royal College of Psychiatrists.

How did you find this source?: I found this source by searching Mental Illness
Stigma on Google Scholar.
Intended audience: I believe the intended audience is the educated public. I
believe this because the language he used was language the general educated public
should understand. Also due to his call to action near the end of the article.
Arguments/topics (4-7 sentences): The article went through several broad topics
that I believe will be very useful in my timed writing. This article will be good for my
research because rather than using experimental data, or going in detail to the effects of
the stigma, it focuses on the stigma itself. It being by defining the word stigma and then
relating it to mental illness. It then goes into feelings and emotions the stigma tends to
cause such as shame, secrecy, blame, black-sheep of the family role, isolation, social
exclusion, stereotypes, and discrimination. Byrne then goes into the various stereotypes
associated with mental illness and how they are formed/perpetuated. He then ends the
article with ways we as individuals could end the stigma, and how we as a society can
end the stigma.
Minimum 3 Quotes, Paraphrases, Summaries:
1. Stigma is defined as a sign of disgrace or discredit, which sets a person apart
from others.
2. Stigma has become a marker for adverse experiences. First among these is a
sense of shame. Mental illness, is still perceived as a sign of weakness. Selfstigmatisation has been described, and there are numerous personal accounts of
psychiatric illness, where shame overrides even the most extreme of symptoms. In two

identical UK public opinion surveys, over 80% endorsing the statement that most people
are embarrassed by mentally ill people.
3. The adaptive response to shame is secrecy. Family and friends may endure a
stigma by association, the so-called courtesy stigma. One study revealed that 50% of
parents and spouses of first-admission patients, make efforts to conceal the illness from
others. Professionals are no different in this regard, and hide psychiatric illness in
themselves or a family member. Secrecy acts as an obstacle to the presentation and
treatment of mental illness at all stages. Poorer outcomes in chronic mental disorders are
likely when patients' social networks are reduced.
4. Stereotypes of mental illness: Psychokiller / maniac, Indulgent, libidinous,
Pathetic sad characters, Figures of fun, Dishonest excuse: hiding behind psychobabble
or doctors
5. Factors which influence the prejudice of stigmatizes: Gender (males), Unkempt
Appearance, Behaviour, Financial circumstances (Homelessness), Assumptions about the
individual's disorder, Perceived responsibility, Perceived severity, History of hospital
admission, Perceived origin (Self-inflicted), Incurable/chronic, Needs drugs to stay
well, criminality or violence
6. Mental health professionals need to move beyond teaching psychoeducation in
isolation (at the clinic) to full participation in planned programmes of public education
(see Box 5). Every intervention must convince its target group of the importance of
stigma/discrimination, challenge stereotypes in ourselves and others, and pursue the
ongoing task of unravelling the nature of prejudice.

5. APA Citation:
http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/docs/pdf/cepi/6Draft_stimatization_of_children_091809.pdf
Source Validation: This source was published by Vanderbilt University
How did you find this source?: I found this source by looking up the references
of one of my other scholarly articles, since the author of this source is the same author as
my summer reading book.
Intended audience: The intended audience are other mental health professionals
interested in the topic because it uses medical/scholarly language.
Arguments/topics: This article begins by describing all the way the stigma
associated with mental illnesses affects those who suffer from them in all aspects of life
(i.e social, economically etc.). The article then continues by describing how many people
place all the blame on the general population or the media for perpetuating mental illness
stereotypes. Rather, we should be placing part of the blame on mental illness
professionals, especially when looking at children with mental illness. The rest of the
article describes examples of institutions that perpetuate this stigma (i.e juvenile
detention facilities, special ed classes). It also focuses on why the stigma has a more
negative effect on children than it does on adults.
Quotes:
1. Tragically, mental illness has been identified as one of the most stigmatized
attributes a person can have in modern society. In fact, stigmatization has been shown to
add considerably to the burden incurred by mental illness per se, in terms of predicting
decreased life opportunities and enhanced impairment. For a number of reasons, it is also
a key barrier to mental health services access and utilization.
2. First, stigmatization may lead to a lack of recognition that problematic behavioral
patterns signify mental disturbance. Such problems may instead be attributed instead to
weak personal will or moral flaw, meaning that psychological services are not even

considered. Second, stigmatization often produces a strong sense of shame and/or

personal failure, so that an individual or family may not seek assessment or treatment
even if they recognize that mental disturbance is present. Third, at an economic level,
stigma has traditionally led to low rates of reimbursement for mental health services, so
that even if treatment is sought, it may not be funded or covered.
3. At a wider societal level, stigmatization has undoubtedly led to lower
prioritization of mental health research and services than for conditions believed to be
physical in nature ... the stigma is the core issue faced by the entire mental health field,
as it underlies the low stature of the mental health professions, the marginal priority given
to mental health research, the poor access to treatment that exists, and the difficulties in
attaining ultimate life goals experienced by far too many persons with mental disorders.
4. Most of the literature on the stigmatization of mental illness focuses on the
general population as a source of stigma, and on the consequences of the stigma for
individuals and families who deal with mental disorder. Yet, another source of the stigma
comes from those entrusted with the responsibility to treat people with mental disorders,
as well as the very service structures created by the field.
5. Why is child and adolescent mental health so important with regard to research,
services, and stigma? ... first [it is] clear that the majority of mental disorders of
adulthood have their origins in childhood or adolescence ... Thus, early detection,
assessment, and intervention are of paramount importance ... Second, the mental illnesses
that begin in childhood and adolescencesuch as autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity
disorder, learning disorders, child-onset conduct disturbance, and child depressionare
extremely likely to persist beyond the child or adolescent year ... Thus, any factors that
can help to initiate accurate detection and evidence-based service utilization during

childhood or adolescence ... are essential in order to prevent many years of suffering and
impairment.

6. APA Citation: http://schizophreniabulletin.oxfordjournals.org/content/30/3/481.full.pdf

Source Validation: This source was published by the Oxford Journal.
How did you find this source?: I found this source by searching Stigma of
Mental Health on Google Scholar.
Intended audience: This article is directed towards other professionals involved
in this field whether they are already in practice, or are learning.
Arguments/topics: This article begins by describing how most researchers study
the idea of the stigma associated with mental illness. Most researchers study the effect of
the stigma on the individual, the stereotypes and how they are perpetuated, and how to
diminish the stigma. However this article focuses on government policies that both
intentionally and unintentionally restrain those with mental illnesses.The author then goes
into multiple examples of intentional and unintentional government policies that have
withheld a certain group of people. These groups include, minorities ( particularly Blacks
and Hispanics) and homosexuals. They later describe a study conducted over the amount
of laws that restrict the mentally ill. The article is concluded by a call to action to be more
aware over such topics because awareness alone can solve the problem.
Quotes:
1. Intentional institutional discrimination manifests itself as rules, policies, and
procedures of private and public entities in positions of power that consciously and
purposefully restrict rights and opportunities. For example, Jim Crow laws ... these laws
explicitly undermined the rights of African-Americans in such vital areas as employment,
education, and public accommodation. There are, however, public and private sector
policies whose consequences restrict the opportunities of members of minority groups in

unintended ways ... For example, many universities and colleges use the SAT or ACT to
limit admission offers ... given that African-American and Hispanic students typically
score lower than whites on these tests, selective universities that rely on the SAT or ACT
for admissions are likely to prevent a disproportionate number of African-American and
Hispanic students from being admitted ... the results of university admissions policies
limit the opportunities for people because of their ethnic group status and the economic
and historical forces that have forged.
2. Nevertheless, the experience of the stigma of AIDS is in many ways similar to
that experienced by people with mental illness ... health policy analysts and legislators
became aware of the harmful effects of institutional discrimination. Second, this
awareness seems to have diminished the effects of this kind of discrimination for people
with AIDS, at least in some Western nations.
3. Approximately one-third of the 50 States restrict the rights of an individual with
mental illness to hold elective office, participate in juries, and vote. Withholding the right
to vote seems especially harmful given significant debate in the legal community about
whether this restriction is even appropriate for convicted felons.. When it comes to
family-related restrictions between 42 and 52 percent of States limit the right of people
with mental illness to remain married. More than 40 percent of States limited the child
custody rights of parents with mental illness.
4. States generally were more restrictive of mental illness than incompetence.
"Mental illness" is a term the public seems to use as a general descriptor of people with
psychiatric disorders. "Incompetence" is a legal term defining people who are unable to
meet a community standard based on their mental illness. This distinction is discussed
more thoroughly below. However, it is sobering to think that legislatures seem to be
restricting rights based on a vague notion (or label) of mental illness rather than

demonstration that individuals are incompetent or unable to perform in a manner that

would qualify them for the civil right.
5. One trend is the lack of change in the number of States with laws restricting civil
rights based on mental illness. Other than in the area of divorce law, there has been no
decrease in the number of States with laws that restrict the rights of people with mental
illness. This is surprising given that concerns about stigma have become a major priority
of advocacy groups across the country. The absence of change may represent legislative
inertia: once a law is passed, it generally remains on the books unless the legislature
actively votes to expunge it.

7. APA Citation: Corrigan, P. W., & Watson, A. C. (2002, February). Understanding the impact
of stigma on people with mental illness. Retrieved October 11, 2016, from
http://www.waisman.wisc.edu/EVENTS/ethics/Corrigan_Stigma_WP_2002.pdf
Source Validation: This information was published by the University of
Wisconsin.
How did you find this source?: I found this source by searching Stigma Mental
Illness on Google Scholar.
Intended audience: This source is geared toward other researchers because in the
article's conclusion there a call to action for continued research on the stigma associated
with mental illness.
Arguments/topics: In this article, Watson and Corrigan study the stigma of
mental illness by studying the specific components that make up a stigma. These
components are stereotype, prejudice, and discrimination. The authors do this by first
describing the general ideas behind stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination, and then
relating them specifically to mental illnesses. This is the general general idea the article
follows, however it does contain some specific information pertaining to how the

stereotype is different between Western culture and non- western culture and why. It also
goes in depth about how the stigma can be fought with protest, education, and contact. He
talks about each of these methods and which ones are most effective for a variety of
situations. Lastly, the authors speak about self-stigma in relation to the 3 ideas related
behind stigma and how this can affect different persons differently.
Quote
1. Public stigma: Stereotype - Negative belief about a group (e.g., dangerousness,
incompetence, character weakness), Prejudice - Agreement with belief and/or negative
emotional reaction (e.g., anger, fear), and Discrimination - Behavior response to
prejudice (e.g., avoidance, withhold employment and housing opportunities, withhold
help)
2. Self-stigma: Stereotype - Negative belief about the self (e.g., character weakness,
incompetence), Prejudice - Agreement with belief, negative emotional reaction (e.g., low
self-esteem, low self-efficacy), and Discrimination - Behavior response to prejudice (e.g.,
fails to pursue work and housing opportunities).
3. Fabrega (26) suggests that the lack of differentiation between psychiatric and nonpsychiatric illness in the three great non-Western medical traditions is an important factor.
While the potential for stigmatization of psychiatric illness certainly exists in nonWestern cultures, it seems to primarily attach to the more chronic forms of illness that fail
to respond to traditional treatments. Notably, stigma seems almost nonexistent in Islamic
societies (26-28). Cross-cultural examinations of the concepts, experiences, and
responses to mental illness are clearly needed.
4. Several themes describe misconceptions about mental illness and corresponding
stigmatizing attitudes. Media analyses of film and print have identified three: people with
mental illness are homicidal maniacs who need to be feared; they have childlike
perceptions of the world that should be marveled; or they are responsible for their illness

because they have weak character (29-32). Results of two independent factor analyses of
the survey responses of more than 2000 English and American citizens parallel these
findings.
5. a) fear and exclusion: persons with severe mental illness should be feared and,
therefore, be kept out of most communities;
b) authoritarianism: persons with severe mental illness are irresponsible, so life decisions
should be made by others;
c) benevolence: persons with severe mental illness are childlike and need to be cared for.
6. The behavioral impact (or discrimination) that results from public stigma may
take four forms: withholding help, avoidance, coercive treatment, and segregated
institutions.
7. Change strategies for public stigma have been grouped into three approaches:
protest, education, and contact.
8. Several studies have shown that participation in education programs on mental
illness led to improved attitudes about persons with these problems (spring action idea)
9. However, research also suggests that, instead of being diminished by the stigma,
many persons become righteously angry because of the prejudice that they have
experienced (60-62). This kind of reaction empowers people to change their roles in the
mental health system, becoming more active participants in their treatment plan and often
pushing for improvements in the quality of services (63).

8. APA Citation: HINSHAW, S. P., & CICCHETTI, D. (2000). Stigma and mental disorder:
Conceptions of illness, public attitudes, personal disclosure, and social policy. Development and
Psychopathology, 12(4), 555598. Retrieved from
https://www.cambridge.org/core/article/stigma-and-mental-disorder-conceptions-of-illness-

public-attitudes-personal-disclosure-and-socialpolicy/438D307B82573D79222C8A3D1E861EDB
Source Validation: This source was published by Cambridge University.
How did you find this source?: I found this source by searching Stigma of
Mental Health on Google Scholar.
Intended audience: Educated Public
Arguments/topics: This sources main focus is the cause of the stigma. The
authors study many different possible sources of the stigma ranging from historical to
biological He then moves on to describes the different stages the stigma can affect. He
goes into depth about how the stigma changes through its levels: community, societal,
familial, and individual. Some common ideas that stretched across all levels included
shame and loneliness. The authors then conclude their article with ways to diminish the
stigma, specifically through educational and social policy.
Quotes:
1. Key developmental psychopathology principles are salient in this regard. We
express concern over the recent oversimplification of mental illness as brain disorder,
supporting instead transactional models which account for the dynamic interplay of
genes, neurobiology, environment, and self across development and which are consistent
with both compassion and societal responsibility.
2. Stereotyping is often an efficient means of negotiating complex social interaction
but often results in stigma consists of three related problems: ignorance, prejudice, and
discrimination. In addition, the media often creates inaccurate and unfavorable
depictions of individuals with mental illnesses, which may fuel these attitudes
3. The research of the 1990s showed that there was a continued desire for social
distance from the mentally ill and the perception that mentally ill people tended to be
dangerous remained quite strong.

4. We conclude that attitudes and policy regarding mental disorder reflect, in

microcosmic form, two crucial issues for the next century and millennium: (a) tolerance
for diversity (vs. pressure for conformity) and (b) intentional direction of our species'
evolution, given fast-breaking genetic advances.

9. APA Citation: Thornicroft, G., Rose, D., Sartorius, N., & Kassam, A. (2007). Stigma:
Ignorance, prejudice or discrimination? | The British Journal of Psychiatry. Retrieved October
25, 2016, from http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/190/3/192
Source Validation: This source was published by the British Journal of
Psychiatry.
How did you find this source?: I found this source by searching Solution to
Stigma of Mental Health on Google Scholar.
Intended audience: Educated Public
Arguments/topics: The authors begin about talking about common flaws found
in research conducted over the stigma of mental illness. Some of these flaws included
that most research focused on one specific mental illness and that it does not focus on
legislation surrounding mental illness. Other problems that the authors noted included
there have been few suggestions on how to effectively reduce the stigma. Lastly, most
research focused on how the media causes the stigma rather than including cultural
factors. After speaking about flaws in research, the authors then talk about ways to
change the way we conduct research so that we can effectively reduce the stigma
Quotes:
1. Stigma can therefore be seen as an overarching term that contains three
elements: problems of knowledge (ignorance), problems of attitudes (prejudice), and
problems of behaviour (discrimination).
2. Five key features have limited the usefulness of stigma theories... Fourth, there
has been an underlying pessimism that stigma is deeply historically rooted and difficult to

change. This has been one of the reasons for the reluctance to use the results of research
in designing and implementing action plans. Fifth, stigma theories have de-emphasised
cultural factors and paid little attention to issues related to human rights and social
structures.
3. One way we need to change the way we do research is by changing how we ask
questions. For example, instead of asking an employer Would you hire someone with
mental illness?, ask them Have you hired someone with mental illness?. This way we
can change what is actually happening because chances are the stigma is much worse
than we believe it is because of the way we ask questions.
4. The reactions of a host majority to act with prejudice in rejecting a minority
group usually involve not just negative thoughts but also emotions not just negative
thoughts but also emotions such as anxiety, anger, resentment, hostility, distaste or
disgust. In fact, prejudice may more strongly predict discrimination than do stereotypes.
than do stereotypes.
5. In sum, this means sharpening our focus upon human rights, upon injustice and
discrimination as actually experienced by people with mental illness, and upon adding to
our knowledge about interventions that society should undertake to reduce both
stigmatisation and its consequences. and its consequences.

10. APA Citation: Overton, S., & Medina, S. (2008, Spring). The Stigma of Mental Illness.
Retrieved October 25, 2016.
Source Validation: This source was published by the Journal of Counseling and
Development.

 How did you find this source?: I found this source by searching Solution to
Stigma of Mental Health on Google Scholar.
Intended audience: Educated Public
Arguments/topics: The source opens up by defining what a mental illness and
defining what a stigma it. It then goes onto say that the stigma is just as bad as the illness
itself. The authors then go on to defend this statements by describing the detrimental
effects the stigma can have on one that is mentally ill. First she describes the
misconceptions of the stigma and talk about how they are not completely false. There are
some who actually fulfill the stigma, however, this misconception is generalized across
all mental illnesses while disregarding severity of the illness. The source ends by
describing ways to dispel the stigma.
Quotes:
1. Negative connotations and false assumptions may be as harmful as the disease
itself. Schizophrenia may evoke visions of violence and inability to care for oneself.
Depression may conjure thoughts of laziness and substance abuse. Societal stigma
significantly limits opportunities that are available for people with serious mental
illnesses.
2. During the Middle Ages, people with mental illness were considered to be living
examples of weaknesses of humankind. The common belief was that mental illness was a
result of being unable to maintain morally strong.
3. In the past, mental illness was diagnosed through physical assessments. Now it is
diagnosed through the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual: 4th edition), which is
a series of diagnostic categories that determine a variety of mental illnesses. Most of
these categories tested whether or not the subject would impede ones daily functioning
as well as the severity.
4. There are several current theories about the construct of stigma and how it might
be deconstructed and defined. These theories include social identity, self-stigma, and

structural stigma. Social Identity Theory considers how people use societal constructs to
judge or label someone who is different or disfavored. Self-Stigma Theory occurs when
an individual buys into societys misconceptions about mental health. By internalizing
negative beliefs, individuals or groups may experience feelings of shame, anger,
hopelessness, or despair that keep them from seeking social support, employment, or
treatment for their mental health conditions. Lastly, the structural stigma refers to an
organizations policies or culture of negative attitudes and beliefs.