Mental illness and stigma.

he word " Stigma " comes from the Greek word " stizen " which means to tattoo or to brand. In ancient Greece, they branded or cut into the flesh of slaves or criminals so that others could identify them as less-valued members of society. Broadly speaking " stigma " is a negative evaluation of a person tainted or discredited on the basis of attributes such as mental disorder or mental illness, race, ethnicity, drug misuse or physical disability¹. The difference between a normal and a stigmatized person is a question of perspective, not reality. Stigma (like beauty) is in the eyes of the beholder and the fundamental reason behind the " stigmatization " of mental illness is due to concept of stereotypes. Stereotypes are about selective perceptions that place people in certain categories, exaggerating differences between groups ('them and us') in order to obscure differences within groups. Some of the stereotypes of mental illnesses are " unpredictable and danger " ; " mental illness reflects weakness of character " ; " feigned or imaginary " ; " psycho killers " ; " poor outcome " ; " disorder incurable " ². The media an plays important role in perpetuating stigma of mental illness. They strengthen the stereotypes, giving public narrowly focused views of mental illness. Few popular notions and misconceptions (violence and unpredictability) are so pervasive and stigmatizing as the belief, they cannot be easily discounted. Hardly a month goes by without the media reporting the sad story of yet another horrendous crime allegedly committed by a patient with mental illness. Even when these crimes have been reported conscientiously and accurately, they arouse fear and apprehension in the general public leading to all patients with mental illness bearing the brunt of impact of actions of the few³. Sensational media reports lead to more stigmatization of not only people with mental illness but also with mental health professionals who treat them, especially psychiatrists. Negative stereotypes portray psychiatrists as " eccentric buffoons " , " evil minded " , and " repressive agents of social system " and in case of female psychiatrists as " loveless " and " sexually unfulfilled " 4. Mental illness stigma existed long before psychiatry developed as a field of medicine or development of psychiatric institution. The ubiquity of stigma and the lack of language to describe its discourse have lead to delay for the campaign …