REDUCING THE STIGMA OF MENTAL ILLNESS

Can We Learn Anything from What Happened in Tucson?

By Ralph Provenza

We want to express our heartfelt sympathies to Rep. Giffords, her staff, Judge Roll, and the citizens of Arizona who were killed or injured in the senseless tragedy on January 8.

While much has been made about the mental state of the accused killer, no one yet knows what drove the young man to engage in such a violent act. Even so, it should be stressed that a person with a mental health condition is no more likely to be violent than any other person.

Extensive studies show that psychiatric diagnoses do not predict someone's propensity for violence. A recent analysis of nearly 20,000 individuals concluded that an increased risk of violence is not significantly associated with having a mental illness but is instead associated with drug and alcohol problems.

Other analyses of bipolar patients show that the risk of violent crime increases only marginally among those with mental illness, but goes up substantially among those using intoxicating substances.

People will seek reasons to explain events like this, but sometimes there are no explanations. Often after such incidents, people will also ask what could have been done to prevent the tragedy.

No one knows what, if anything, could have been done to change the course of events. Yet accounts paint the picture of the accused killer as an unstable individual who was becoming a greater and greater danger to others. Why didn’t he get help?

An unstable individual often will not seek nor accept help because of the stigma that surrounds mental illness, which is the number one reason why people struggling with mental health issues don't get the help they need.

Stigma is a very real problem for people who have a mental illness. Stigma is a negative judgment based on stereotypes of having a mental health condition.

We still have a long way to go to overcome the misconceptions, fears and biases people have about mental illness, and the stigma these attitudes create.

Stigma may be obvious and direct, such as someone making a negative remark about your mental health condition or your treatment. Or it can be subtle, such as someone assuming you could be violent or dangerous because you have a mental health condition.

These and other forms of stigma can lead to feelings of anger, frustration, shame, isolation, and low self-esteem — as well as discrimination at work, school and in other areas of your life.

For someone with a mental illness, the consequences of stigma can be devastating.

To help someone in crisis or who is developing the signs and symptoms of mental illness, others must know about the risk factors and warning signs. And they must be willing to step forward to act on their knowledge and offer help until appropriate professionals, peers, or family support can be engaged.

UCS has a system of services and knowledge and we have intervened in many similar community crises.

A person with mental illness may be unaware he or she is becoming worse. Then it’s up to the family and the community to offer help any way they can.

The path to better public mental health for all of us is to expand our knowledge of mental illnesses and their treatments and to reduce stigma so that seeking and accepting help are acceptable options.

Regardless of whether or not we can find the reasons for acts such as what occurred in Tucson, and while we can never prevent people with intent and a plan from doing harm, we can at least be supportive as a community in our approach to our friends and neighbors with similar emotional or behavioral challenges.