Why is there a stigma associated with mental illness?
People have long been afraid of how mental illness changes personalities. Harvey Fineberg, MD, discusses this stigma and how it can change.
Transcript
[BLANK_AUDIO] As long as civilization has existed, people have been frightened
by mental illness. In a way, it undermines the character or the personess of the individual that you know. So, it's very frightening.
It's a stigma because there's also been a tradition that was an
idea of possession by demons or outside forces that was the source of the mental illness. We know better today scientifically, we have
a lot more information about the nature of the imbalances in the brain that can lead to mental illness. We don't have totally effective
treatments. We still need to do much more to understand the way the brain works and what kinds of interventions both medical in
terms of drugs and
in terms of counselling can be useful in affecting the life course
of those who suffer from mental illness. So this is a huge challenge for research, it's still a challenge for society in terms of relieving
ourselves of the stigma that has traditionally been attached to mental illness. Facing up to the problems including mental health
as a core part of our healthcare system and doing what we need to do to make progress in research.
meditation
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