Social Stigma Still Evident for Alzheimer’s, Dementia and Mental Illness
Posted May 14 2009 4:31pm
Why is it that, in this supposedly enlightened age, mental illness still carries a stigma? Why is it that when people talking about someone who is ill, say in their office, and it' s the flu or even cancer, they will discuss it openly, however if it is a mental illness, say depression or schizophrenia, they will whisper about it? Are they afraid that they, too, will succumb to this disease if they admit it' s real. Do they feel that they are somehow protecting the dignity of the person with the illness if they whisper rather than talk normally about a person' s mental illness?
Why is it that, in this supposedly enlightened age, mental illness still carries a stigma? Why is it that when people talking about someone who is ill, say in their office, and it' s the flu or even cancer, they will discuss it openly, however if it is a mental illness, say depression or schizophrenia, they will whisper about it? Are they afraid that they, too, will succumb to this disease if they admit it' s real. Do they feel that they are somehow protecting the dignity of the person with the illness if they whisper rather than talk normally about a person' s mental illness?
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