Mental illness – people whisper the words behind closed doors. Those with diseases in this category often feel ashamed, guilty and ostracized. Yet, more than 20 percent of all people in the United States experience symptoms of a mental illness each year. In 14 percent of those cases, people suffer moderate or severe symptoms that can be helped through treatment. Yet, less than 50 percent of those who need mental health care receive it. Those individuals who do receive the care often have waited years after the onset of symptoms before seeking help.

People can and do recover from mental illness. Depression can be treated successfully in 80 percent of all patients. Why do so few people receive the help they need? There are a variety of reasons including a lack of funds or insurance and a lack of knowledge about the symptoms. However, one of the most prevalent reasons for avoiding treatment is stigma.

Today, people face many types of discrimination if they reveal they have a mental illness. Some landlords will not rent to an individual with a diagnosed mental illness, and employers may avoid hiring that person. These same landlords and employers would not discriminate against people with other chronic diseases such as diabetes and asthma. However, because they do not understand mental illnesses, they feel justified in turning people away.

Studies from recent years show that most mental illnesses result at least in part from chemical changes or abnormalities in the brain. As a result, they are true illnesses just as diabetes is caused by abnormalities in the body’s chemistry and cancer results from changes in the body’s cell production.

However, because mental illnesses often result in abnormal behaviors, people are more likely to attribute the illness to a person’s character than to biochemistry. They are not as quick to judge when these same behavioral changes occur as the result of brain tumors. In this case, people do not blame the individual for the disease.

To recover from mental illness, people must reach out for help. When they fear stigma and its related discrimination, they are less likely to seek treatment, possibly resulting in suffering and even death.

By establishing “Open Minds Open Doors,” a program to fight the stigma of mental illness, Mental Health Connection of Tarrant County and Community Solutions of Fort Worth hope to end the stigma so more people seek help and find successful treatments.

Anti-Stigma Campaign Description