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Decreasing stigma of mental illness. By: Sarah Zanelli and Carly Szewczyk. What exactly is a mental illness or disorder?. It is a behavioral or psychological problem which starts with either emotional distress or abnormal behavior
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Decreasing stigma of mental illness By: Sarah Zanelli and Carly Szewczyk
What exactly is a mental illness or disorder? • It is a behavioral or psychological problem which starts with either emotional distress or abnormal behavior • There are two different types of mental illnesses: Psychoses and Neuroses.
psychoses • It’s a major illness with symptoms such as; delusionsand hallucinations. This includes: • Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Neuroses • It is a less severe illness and it is much easier to treat. • This includes: • Anxiety, OCD, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression.
Stigmas of mental illness • Assumptions that a person with a mental illness could be harmful or dangerous. • It could be a negative comment on a persons mental illness or a treatment that they happen to be getting for the illness.
The effects of stigma • The person may be rejected by friends and family. • Being harassed and made fun of for something the person cannot do anything about. • The refusal to get treatment for their mental illness. • The person with the mental illness might even pretend that nothing is wrong.
From a personal experience.. • Before this past summer I had never been in contact with someone who had a mental illness. At camp I met a staff member named Dan, unbeknownst to me was a schizophrenic. We spent a lot of time talking and getting to know one another. I did not find out about his illness until one of the other staff members told me about his condition a day before I left camp. Dan had to be one of the nicest people I have ever met, it just goes to show that you shouldn’t judge people before you get to know them.