{"id":610573,"date":"2026-05-29T15:54:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T15:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/610573\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T15:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T15:54:08","slug":"reducing-the-stigma-around-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/610573\/","title":{"rendered":"Reducing the Stigma Around Mental Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and every year I reflect on how much we\u2019ve accomplished in improving awareness and reducing the stigma<\/a> around mental illness and mental health treatment. Recently, the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Movement announced that there would be significant efforts focused on getting Americans off of SSRIs<\/a>, the leading evidence-based medication<\/a> for treating anxiety<\/a>, depression<\/a>, and other mental health conditions. Instead, \u201dlifestyle changes\u201d will be strongly encouraged as the preferred treatment. Judging just from the comments, there are many people who support the approach, despite limited empirical evidence in favor of it.<\/p>\n

For example, many people still believe that depression can be addressed by eating healthy, exercising, and thinking positively. Although these are certainly good habits to acquire, for millions of individuals, these healthy habits are not enough to treat severe and chronic depression. People are shamed for having mental health conditions, and when others learn that they are taking medication or going to therapy<\/a>, they might be criticized and degraded. Often, they received the harshest backlash from family members.<\/p>\n

The theme for this year\u2019s Mental Health Awareness Month was \u201cStigma grows in silence. Healing begins in community.\u201d Although mental health awareness receives a good deal of press from organizations like the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) and Mental Health America, I have to wonder how much progress is being made towards true acceptance. Whether this will ever happen at the national level might be beyond our control, but there are things we can do to raise awareness among those closest to us, leading to more acceptance and support. The following suggestions are intended to help us use our voices and our knowledge to reduce stigma in our communities.<\/p>\n

Understand where people are coming from<\/p>\n

People tend to seek out news and research that confirms what they already believe. But presenting them with different sources of information may compel them to broaden their perspective. Listen to their side of the story. Hear what they have to say before creating a counter-argument.<\/p>\n

One of the statements I make to people who think medication isn\u2019t necessary to treat depression draws a parallel to the experience of physical illness: \u201cIf you had diabetes, would you not take insulin? Diabetes is a physical illness. Depression is a mental health condition. Both may require a different form of medical treatment. Whether it\u2019s the pancreas or the brain, it\u2019s still part of your body.\u201d You won\u2019t persuade everyone to think more flexibly about the issue, but you may plant a seed that will grow later as they learn more information and hear more stories.<\/p>\n

There are some people who resist their own medication, therapy, and other forms of treatment because they are afraid of the unknown. Uncertainty can be scary. Or perhaps they are afraid that if the treatment doesn\u2019t work, that will mean it\u2019s all their fault. Validating their feelings and having compassion for their situation may make those who resist mental health treatment more open to at least talking about it or doing more of their own research.<\/p>\n

Share personal stories<\/p>\n

It can be risky to share your own story with others, especially if they are already skeptical of mental health diagnoses and treatment, but you never know who may become more receptive by hearing about your lived experience. Chances are that people who trust you, and with whom you have a good foundation, will be more open to hearing your story. You do not have to feel obligated to tell your whole story. You get to decide how much you share and what questions to answer, and you can choose to focus on how mental health treatment, like medication and therapy, has improved your mental health and made life better.<\/p>\n

Share scholarly research<\/p>\n

For the academic skeptics in your circle, share empirical research. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) website has thousands of well-documented studies on effective treatments, including medication, nutrition<\/a>, and exercise. These findings provide a more realistic picture of the comprehensive nature of mental health treatment. It doesn\u2019t only include lifestyle changes, nor does medication alone typically improve mental health. The research is not hard to find, but many people will not look for it on their own. Those of us who understand how research is conducted can share appropriate findings and quality research.<\/p>\n

We won\u2019t change perspectives by being silent. Even though it can be difficult to begin and navigate conversations with skeptics, staying silent will not move us beyond stigma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and every year I reflect on how much we\u2019ve accomplished in improving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-610573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}