A Need for Change

While the American public has become more knowledgeable about mental health issues during the past 50 years, attitudes toward mental illness have remained largely unchanged and many individuals unfortunately continue to associate it with violence and danger. In fact, studies have shown that a person’s beliefs and attitudes regarding mental health form during adolescence.

Media stereotypes and negative comments from family members and peers influence the views of youth regarding mental illness. It is important to encourage the natural empathy and desire for social action and change so prevalent among today’s teenagers to humanize and increase acceptance of and compassion for those who struggle with mental health issues.

Below are a number of quotes that reflect both the changes that are needed in Americans’ perspective on mental illness and hope for the future.

• “That’s the stigma, because, unfortunately, we live in a world where if you break your arm, everyone runs over to sign your cast, but if you tell people you’re depressed, everyone runs the other way…We are so, so, so accepting of any body part breaking down, other than our brains…[T]hat ignorance has created a world that doesn’t understand depression, that doesn’t understand mental health. And that’s ironic to me because depression is one of the best-documented problems we have in the world, yet it’s one of the least discussed.” Kevin Breel (comic and author of Boy Meets Depression: Or Life Sucks and Then You Live)
• “Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all. Together, we…[can] replace stigma with acceptance, ignorance with understanding.” Bill Clinton
• “It is an odd paradox that a society, which can now speak openly and unabashedly about topics that were once unspeakable, still remains largely silent when it comes to mental illness.” Glenn Close
• “When ‘I’ is replaced by ‘WE’ even ‘illness’ becomes ‘wellness’.” Malcolm X

It is important to remember that 80 to 90 percent of individuals who obtain mental health treatment have an improvement in their symptoms. However, stereotypes and stigma remain the largest barrier to recovery, preventing nearly 70 percent of affected young adults from seeking help for mental illness. By speaking up and educating others, you truly have the power to change and save lives!