Does the Stigma of Mental Illness Contribute to Suicidality? The Role of Public and Individual Stigma

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2019 im Fachbereich Soziale Arbeit / Sozialarbeit, , Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: The stigma of mental disorders and discrimination against the mentally ill remain the most persistent obstacle to improving the quality of life of these people. Often, a mental illness is perceived as something frightening, shameful, unreal, contrived, and incurable; mentally ill people are characterized as dangerous, unpredictable, unreliable, unstable, lazy, weak, useless and/or helpless. According to research data, the main problem is that many people with mental disorders are systematically discriminated in most areas of their lives. These forms of social exclusion occur in the family, at work, in private life, and in public activities, in the health and the media, which leads to the formation of a feeling of extreme insecurity, rejection and despair in mental patients and, accordingly, determines the high level of suicide in this categories of the population. This acute problem determines the need to study the root sources of this phenomenon, its social background, the ways to combat this phenomenon (disgraceful for a society of the 21st century), and find ways to improve the situation.