What is stigma?

Stigma can result in the person feeling isolated, excluded and devalued and may lead them to try to conceal their mental health difficulty.

Mental health stigma thrives on lack of knowledge and understanding, negative attitudes and hostile or discriminatory behaviour.

It is estimated that 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health difficulty, meaning we may all be affected in some way.

The stigma and discrimination associated with significant mental illness is, for some people, almost as difficult to manage as the experience of being unwell.

Stigma can act as a barrier to seeking support as people fear being labelled as mentally ill. This can lead to feelings of isolation and make the experience of mental health difficulties much worse.

Labels such as psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression are useful when explaining the challenges that individuals experience but without education and experience of knowing people who have been given those labels there can be misinformation that we know can be used to treat a person as different from the rest of society.

Research conducted in 2007 showed that 6 in 10 people would not want anyone to know if they had a mental health difficulty.

10 years later, 4 in 10 people said they would conceal a mental health difficulty from family, friends or colleagues, according to research commissioned by Shine’s in 2017.

Stigma is common for people with mental health conditions with reports of being discriminated against reported in a number of areas, including:

Employment

Not being offered roles or not applying for roles, difficulty in securing promotion.

Education

Settings such as schools, universities – being labelled as different and not offered opportunities to advance.

Media

Misrepresentation of mental illness, use of inflammatory language.

Insurance Companies

Making it more difficult for people with mental health conditions to get insurance, loading policies.

Community

Feeling shunned or excluded.

Families

Family members rejecting and blaming the person for their condition.

While much work has been done as part of our national stigma-reduction programme, stigma unfortunately still persists in society and so we continue our efforts to educate and inform, creating a social movement to change outdated perceptions, discrimination and misinformation, replacing them with understanding and empathy. Our aim is to reach the point where mental health is on a par with physical health, with the same access to treatments and supports.  

• Educate yourself on mental health difficulties and the recovery process. Learn More.
• Recognise the contribution of people who experience mental health difficulties. Learn about our Ambassadors.
• Challenge stigma and discrimination when you hear or see it. Learn about our Workplace Programme.
• Consider the language you use and how a simple change in the language you use will show your openness and acceptance. Learn more about language.
• Start a conversation with a friend, family member or work colleagues about mental health. Download our Talking Card.