Stigma

Is it slowly going away, I do not think so? In this article it says it is improving for people with mental illness and work. They say there is not as much stigma as there once was. This article talks about employees getting more mental health services than before. That sounds better than a couple of months ago when all the talk was about Jared Loughner.
It looked like stigma was here to stay and nothing could change it. I believe with celebrities coming out and speaking about it has helped. It is also more productive if companies accept and get there employees help. That would help a lot. Then at least some companies would not hinder their employees from seeking help. It would be hard to work and have a mental illness. I would be pretty embarrassed if I had to come back to the same job after a breakdown.
It was a lot worse twenty or forty years back. I think more people are talking about mental illness than before. Let’s hope they can understand it right and we do not have as much stigma as before. “Mental illness is one of the leading causes of workplace absenteeism." It would be hard to lose your job because you are mentally ill. The reason why is “about half of people with mental and substance abuse problems go without treatment, the figures show.” If you do not understand that you are mentally ill how can you ask for help? There is a lot of absenteeism, due to mental illness, but this may be because people do not know that they maybe mentally-ill, and that is because of the fear (stigma) associated with mental illness

Stigma or Prejudice

Prejudice and stigma is the same thing. Why do people make fun of or pick on somebody because they are different? Is it because they do not understand them or fear they will be like them. Even if they are alright to begin with, they must not have no conscience. If they did would they not say but for the grace of God it is not me. Stigma and prejudice are bad whether it is for a mental illness, because you are of another race or if you have muscular dystrophy or anything wrong with a human being. It keeps repeating in society, because grown ups show kids how to keep on stigmatizing or being prejudice. It never stops. You would think everyone would celebrate everyone being different. If we were all the same would it not be a very boring world? Even though people do not understand mental distress, I am glad I have it, because it has taught me so much. All the people who I have met along the way of recovery, I learn from them and hopefully have touched their lives also. You can learn something from anybody, no matter if they are black or white, insane or sane.