Breaking the stigma associated with mental illness requires that there to be a cultural shift within our communities, our families, amongst our friends, and challenging our own biases. By Identifying and challenging these biases and recognizing the language associated with stigma, we can begin to break the barriers that being stigmatized has creates. Educating ourselves regarding the various themes associated with stigmatizing ourselves and others, and changing the language we use, along with an advocate allows us to become, “Champions of Change.”

Consequences of Stigma

Stigma can be defined as a set of negative and often unfair beliefs that society or a group of people have about something or someone. It can also be a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person. The consequences of experiencing stigma is far-reaching, and damaging. Those who have experienced being stigmatized can often believe the false or negative language spoken to them, resulting in self-stigmatizing. Self-stigmatizing is reiterating the stigma an individual experience through their families, friends, the community, and society causing the cycle of stigmatizing to perpetuate.

Words Hurt!   

Any form of humiliation that is associate with someone being stigmatize is a type of bondage, an oppression that stages itself to create exclusion, thereby impeding one’s freedom and enslaving them-physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. 

Help Break The Stigma

We can all do our part to break the stigma that is associated with having a substance use or mental health disorder. By choosing alternative language, we can break the stigma associate with substance use and mental health disorders.

  • Say This:
  • Person with a substance use disorder
  • Abstinent
  • Person diagnosed with a mental health disorder
  • Person who has be diagnosed with bipolar •Person in recovery, person in long-term recovery
  • Had a setback, person is currently using
  • “Positive” or “Negative” test results
  • Person who committed a crime or individual who was incarcerated.
  • Not This:
  • Addict, junkie, druggie, crackhead, alcoholic, drunk
  • Clean
  • They are mentally ill, wacko, crazy, demented, psycho
  • They are bipolar
  • Ex-addict or drug user, former addict, or drug user
  • Relapsed
  • Clean or dirty drug screen
  • Felon or convict

Source:

  1. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Racial/ Ethnic Differences in Mental Health Service Use among Adults. HHS Publication No. SMA-15-4906. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2021. from 02._webcast_1_resources-508.pdf (samhsa.gov)
  2. Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Stigma. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved March 30, 2021, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stigma