Stop stigma against people with mental health problems

MENTAL HEALTH

By Phoebe Alitubeera

Contrary to common belief that mental illness is rare, it is actually a common public health problem.

Research has showed that up to one in four people experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives. Mental illness is frequently an invisible illness and majority of us are unaware of how many mentally ill people we encounter daily.

Usually the only way to know if someone has been diagnosed with mental illness is if they tell you. Majority of people with mental health problems and their relatives, however, prefer to conceal their mental health status because of the associated social stigma.

Social stigma includes negative and prejudicial ways in which people with mental illness are labeled and treated which vary from names such as "insane, lunatic, crazy" to physical bullying. Mental illness without necessary health care results in significant disability with limited ability to carry out usual activities and impaired emotional states.

Social stigma delays access to necessary treatment impedes recovery and hinders community integration. It also hinders performance of social roles such as parenting, being in a long-term relationship, decreases chances of employment and reduces self-esteem with a decreased quality of life.

Majority of people with mental health problems recover fully and are able to live prime productive lives, especially if they get help early. However, supernatural explanations for mental illness and social stigma attached to mental illness not only fuel ignorance but make it hard for people with mental health problems to seek help and recover thereby fostering their social exclusion.

Mental illness generally presents as abnormal thoughts, emotions, behaviour, relationships with others and may stretch to loss of touch with reality. Mental disorders are often chronic illnesses with shifts between well and ill states therefore requiring constant social support. As you interact with that child, friend or relative with mental health problems; focus not on their limitations but rather their abilities.

Anyone can develop mental illness or experience poor mental health as causes range from genetic, psychological trauma and stressors such as injuries, pre-existing disease conditions, catastrophic life events among others.

Societal stereotypes that people with mental illness are violent and dangerous when in fact they are more at risk of being attacked or harming themselves, should from the basis of advocacy for protection of people with mental health problems. Furthermore, common beliefs that mentally ill people do not amount to much and are unemployable are far from the truth.

Ludwig van Beethoven; the most influential classical music composer and pianist suffered from manic depression, Catherine Zeeta Jones a successful actress suffers from bipolar affective disorder, and Michael Phelps- one of the most decorated athletes of all time was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) as a child.

Steve Jobs though never clinically diagnosed, experts concur that he may have suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). His tenacious dedication to exceptionally high standards made Apple the colossal success it is. Professor Elyn Saks, a Yale law graduate and professor of law, psychiatry and psychology suffered from schizophrenia.

At diagnosis, doctors described Elyn's situation as "grave" and expected her to work manual jobs at best. Elyn, now an esteemed scholar; did not reveal her mental health problems until later on in life because of fear of stigma.

Closer to home, Sitawa Wafula is a Kenyan mental health advocate who suffers from both epilepsy and bipolar disorder.

Sitawa qualified and enrolled for an actuarial science degree but had to drop out because of lack of social support. In spite of this, Sitawa is now an Executive Director of a mental health hub. These successful people with mental health problems are not the exception; rather a depiction of the productivity that majority of mentally ill people can achieve if they have the right support system.

Be a part of the solution today and change the course of society by treating people with mental illness with dignity and respect with belief that they can be great achievers in life.

The writer is an Epidemiology Fellow in the Uganda Public Health Fellowship Program attached to Mental Health and Substance Abuse Control Program, Ministry of Health