This month’s article has been very difficult to write, as it is about mental health stigma which is so multi-faceted. What does stigma mean related to mental health? Stigma has to do with shame. Shame is feeling and believing “I am inherently bad.” So mental health stigma would mean that “I am a bad person, or have no value as a person, because I have a mental health problem/challenge/diagnosis.” This stigma permeates all aspects of our society, including areas such as education, healthcare, and law enforcement. Mental health stigma is present in our state of Montana, our community, and within our own family systems. Decreasing mental health stigma can only begin by acknowledging the reality and prevalence of mental health stigma in our daily lives.
Reducing mental health stigma also occurs through continued learning about mental health and social contact with others. Often when we think of mental health, buzz-words such as depression, bipolar, schizophrenia and anxiety come to mind. Another way to think about mental health is that it is something we all have, each and every one of us, and that is variable. Just like each of us has physical health, each of us has mental health.
So, wait, what is mental health? The World Health Organization shares that “mental health is an integral and essential component of health” and “mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”.
It helps reverse the stigma when we can step back and realize mental health is not something “other people struggle with” but in contrast “mental health is something everyone has.” We need to realize we all experience ups and downs related to life experiences. Also, mental health is not an “all or nothing” concept; mental health varies from “great mental health” to “severe mental health” and everything in between. If you are interested in learning more, read about Canada’s The Working Mind and/or learn about the concept of the Mental Health Continuum. The Mental Health Continuum is a concept used by various organizations and people across the United States and world.
There is a great visual image regarding the Mental Health Continuum found at https://theworkingmind.ca/continuum-self-check.
On the left side are categories including “Changes in Mood, Changes in Thinking and Attitude, Changes in Behavior and Performance, Physical Changes, Changes in Addictive Behaviors”. The categories along the top include “Healthy, Reacting, Injured, Ill”. I hope I have piqued your interest and you take some time to look into this idea-after all, increasing knowledge will help reduce stigma.
Why was I drawn to the field of mental health and psychiatry? Actually, it started when I was working as a nurse in the emergency department. I started noticing the majority of patients who came seeking help for “physical” problems actually seemed to have a mental health challenge. After this initial hypothesis, it was proven to me through the following years while I worked as a nurse in other emergency departments and in family practice. I then pursued becoming a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner to best help everyone who is at a place of needing/wanting additional support in their lives.
This was the start, the idea of normalizing mental health and reducing stigma will be continued… more to come!
Kristel Kishbaugh, DNP, PMHNP-BC
