Many Canadians stigmatize mentally ill

[jdobbin]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories

Many Canadians hold negative attitudes towards people with mental health issues, says a new poll released Monday by the Canadian Medical Association.

The CMA says those attitudes have not changed in decades. The federal government has announced $75 million in funding to de-stigmatize mental health in Canada, but results could take years.

The poll, which was part of the CMA's 2008 National Report Card, showed 46 per cent of Canadians think people use the term "mental illness" as an excuse for bad behaviour.

Many people seem to hold negative attitudes about mental health. Lots seems to use slurs against others that continue the stigma. We have seen it here in these forums.

Stereotypes abound and the attitude of some is that people are faking.

Even something like autism which can manifest as mental development issue raises doubts as was demonstrated by conservative columnist Micheal Savage who said autism is a fraud.

It is a health issue and until people start to accept that, we will continue to see the silence, the slurs and the fear.

Edited August 19, 2008 by jdobbin

[capricorn]

It is a health issue and until people start to accept that, we will continue to see the silence, the slurs and the fear.

This is so true. Daniel Alfredsson of the Ottawa Senators NHL team is doing something about it.

Society still holds to the belief that diseases such as depression and schizophrenia are dangerous or shameful, Mr. Alfredsson says, which stops people from coming forward to get treatment. In particular, he wants to target young people, to change their negative perceptions of mental illness.

"We all go through times when it seems like everything is against you. It seems like there is no way out of it," he says. "Most of us are able to come through with family that helps you, a support network. But some people can't. It becomes overwhelming for them. That's when they need help."

He hopes that by raising awareness more people will feel comfortable asking for help.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...080619.walf0616

We need more high profile Canadians in such campaigns of awareness.

Mental illness does not discriminate. It could happen to us or a loved one.

[eyeball]

This poll supports the idea that the lack of empathy is a psychological disorder that has reached epidemic proportions. Its amongst the worst mental diseases a person can have.

[jdobbin]

This is so true. Daniel Alfredsson of the Ottawa Senators NHL team is doing something about it.

It is good to see. Very few high profile people speak on the issue of mental health.

[eyeball]

Try speaking up about it in a small town that's been swept up in a shit-storm of fear and loathing...nothing lowers your profile faster.

[WIP]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories

Many people seem to hold negative attitudes about mental health. Lots seems to use slurs against others that continue the stigma. We have seen it here in these forums.

Stereotypes abound and the attitude of some is that people are faking.

Even something like autism which can manifest as mental development issue raises doubts as was demonstrated by conservative columnist Micheal Savage who said autism is a fraud.

It is a health issue and until people start to accept that, we will continue to see the silence, the slurs and the fear.

Michael Savage is a clown who peddles homeopathy and tells his minions that pharmaceutical companies are trying to poison the public with drugs. His enlightened perspective on mental illness comes from his opinion that mental illness is" all in your head", and he denies every form of mental illness as having real physical causes.

Sad to say that there are a lot of people who agree with this raving lunatic on this issue as well as his rants about immigrants, liberals and minorities.

But even a lot of rational people stigmatize mental illness, and I think part of it comes out of a lot of people's thinking that the mind is separate from the body. So the same people who would accept that cancer and heart disease could happen to people through no fault of their own, can't accept that the mind can be ill as well, and they will not accept them even when their depression or psychosis is being effectively treated.

[Rue]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories

Many people seem to hold negative attitudes about mental health. Lots seems to use slurs against others that continue the stigma. We have seen it here in these forums.

Stereotypes abound and the attitude of some is that people are faking.

Even something like autism which can manifest as mental development issue raises doubts as was demonstrated by conservative columnist Micheal Savage who said autism is a fraud.

It is a health issue and until people start to accept that, we will continue to see the silence, the slurs and the fear.

I echo W's response. Yes. All we can do is try provide people education and information to try address the myths, misconceptions and stereotyped assumptions.

The same people who say autism is a fraud also say the same about many other bio-chemical imbalances and conditions. Its the kind of thinking that blames the person with the illness as having a weakness they choose to have and then deliberately use to manipulate others.

What can I say. The first thing an ignorant person does is to profess he knows what the real story is.

There was a time when people who were deaf were assumed to be mentally insane or lacking in intelligence. Peole with epilepsy were considered to be possessed by Satan. Not too long ago a person with schitzophrenia was said to be that way because their mother didn't raise them properly. Some people still refer to homosexuality as a mental illness and manic depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anorexia, obsessive compulsive disorder and depression as frauds claiming such people deliberately engage in this behaviour to manipulate others.

It takes all kinds. The fact is today we still know less then 5% of the chemicals that make up the brain and still know very little about how most of it works and functions but scientists to continue to map it and try understand how it works. As neuro sciences and psychiatry continue to develop, the more we will learn and the more information we will obtain to people able to address and challenge these false stereotypes.

To suggest autism is not an illness is just the modern version of calling women witches. Humans as WP said, even rational humans can't resist stereotyping that which we can't understand or do not like into demons and monsters.

Regards,

Frankenstein, Elephant Man, The Thing

Edited August 23, 2008 by Rue