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Kayla Wardle 

Mrs. Jackie Burr, Instructor 

English 2010, Section 3 

May 18, 2020 

An Open Letter to America on Mental Health Stigma 

Dear America, 

If you had to call in sick to work, would you rather say you had a kidney stone, or that 

you were depressed and suicidal? Or would you rather say that you threw out your back or had a 

panic attack? Would you rather say that you had a migraine headache, or that you were strung 

out on prescription pain medication? If you answered the former for each scenario, you are 

affected by mental health stigma. This scenario is a thought experiment presented by psychiatrist 

Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman in his TedTalk, “Imagine There Was No Stigma to Mental Illness” used to 

illustrate the wide-spread effects of stigma in our society. Psychologists Patrick W. Corrigan and 

David L. Penn define public stigma against mental illness as “a set of negative attitudes and 

beliefs that motivate individuals to fear, reject, avoid, and discriminate against people with 

mental illness.” Whether we are aware of it or not, stigma affects all of us in our everyday lives. 

Portrayals of mentally ill people being dangerous or unintelligent frequent the movie screens. 

Topics of mental health are taboo in a way that physical health is not. Going to therapy can be 

seen as shameful or a weakness to some people. For those struggling with a mental illness, 

negative public opinion can prevent them from seeking help.  

Psychology is a relatively young field of science, and as such, we know little about the 

brain compared to other organs of the body like the heart or lungs. Lack of education, fear, and 
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the social stigma around admitting to mental illnesses has kept us from understanding what 

mental illness actually is. Mental illnesses are conditions that affect a person’s thinking, feeling 

or mood and interfere with their day to day life. There are hundreds, if not, thousands of different 

mental health conditions that have been diagnosed and more and more are being discovered 

every day. They are also a lot more common than you might think. The National Alliance on 

Mental Health reported that one in five adults in the United States experience a mental illness 

each year. Statistically, this means that everyone in the U.S. should know at least one person that 

suffers from a mental illness whether we are aware of it or not.  

The most common mental health conditions are Anxiety Disorder followed by Clinical 

Depression, and Bipolar Disorder. 95% of all people suffering with a mental illness will have 

one of these three conditions. These conditions cause a variety of symptoms, from insomnia, to 

change in appetite, to lack of interest in activities, to even physical symptoms like headaches and 

fatigue. Even people with the same diagnoses may experience differing levels of severity and 

symptoms, so mental health is unfortunately quite unique to the individual and difficult to 

diagnose. The causes and cures for mental illnesses are still largely a mystery to the human race.  

Despite the commonality of mental illnesses, talking about them has become taboo in a 

way that discussing physical illnesses is not. Fear, lack of understanding and misrepresentation 

in the media have created a strong social stigma around mental health issues. For many, it can be 

harder to admit to going to cognitive behavioral therapy to treat an anxiety disorder than it is to 

discuss the physical therapy you are receiving for a broken bone. Mental illnesses have also been 

widely misrepresented in the media which has led to the spread of false information. Mentally ill 

individuals are often depicted as incompetent and dangerous to society in movies and TV shows. 
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This inaccurate portrayal of mental illnesses in American media has led us to wrongly fear and 

isolate mentally ill people.  

While stigma is overall detrimental to the understanding of psychology in American 

society, it can also be extremely dangerous for those suffering from a mental illness. Social 

stigma can cause fear and shame and, as a result, mentally ill individuals may decide not to seek 

treatment out and avoid admitting to their problem. Lack or delay of mental health treatment can 

be extremely dangerous and unfortunately, happens all too often. According to the National 

Alliance on Mental Health, “the average delay between [mental illness] symptom onset and 

treatment is 11 years.” A delay in treatment as extensive as over a decade can cause conditions to 

worsen in individuals which end up being detrimental to their daily lives for years. There is also 

a strong correlation between untreated mental illnesses and suicide. In the United States, suicide 

is the 2nd most leading cause of death for Americans ages 10 to 34. Overall, the suicide rate has 

also increased significantly in the last decade, growing 31% since 2001 (“National”). Mental 

illness is clearly an ongoing issue in our society and it is not going away any time soon. Largely 

ignoring the problem as we are now is dangerous and outdated.  

Thanks to organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness, mental health 

awareness is being spread to combat social stigma. NAMI works to provide “advocacy, 

education, support and public awareness” around mental illness in order to improve the lives of 

mentally ill individuals. They are located in every state and frequently hold awareness events 

around the country. May Mental Health Month is one of these annual projects that is used to 

increase awareness on mental health and reduce mental health stigma. Many of these 

organizations promote the reduction of stigma during May on social media using 
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#BreaktheStigma and #NotAlone. Organizations like NAMI provide information and education 

about mental illness to the general public which helps combat stigma, but there are some things 

that only we, as individuals can do for our communities.  

The most important tool we can use to combat stigma is knowledge. Stigma causes 

people to feel ashamed for things that are out of their control and may prevent them from seeking 

the treatment they need. By educating yourself on mental illnesses and mental health resources in 

your community you can help not only yourself but also your peers and neighbors. Educating 

ourselves and others allows us all to become a little more aware of when mental illnesses are 

being improperly portrayed or mocked in our society. It is important to call out and educate 

others when they are stigmatizing mental illness, however it is also important to not harbor any 

self-stigma. This can be more difficult than you might think. Self-stigma, more often than not, 

comes in a form of putting ourselves down or isolating ourselves when we might be struggling 

with some form of mental illness as well. Proper mental health is achieved by not being afraid to 

ask for help or seek treatment when we are struggling. By being open with our own struggles 

with mental illness we may be able to help others that are too afraid to ask for it. The ultimate 

goal should be for mental illnesses to be treated equally to physical illnesses. After all, they are 

both often out of our control; the only difference is that mental illnesses reside in the brain rather 

than another organ such as the heart. By working to educate ourselves and others and hold 

discussions in our communities, we have the power to normalize mental disorders. Eradicating 

stigma is the first step in building a better world for ourselves and our neighbors who are dealing 

with an overlooked illness. By being open and supportive of those struggling with mental 

illnesses, we can help show them and ourselves that we are not alone.  
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Work’s Cited 

Hallemann, Caroline. “Prince Harry Just Gave a Powerful Speech at This Year's WE Day.” ​Town

& Country​, Town & Country, 6 Mar. 2019,

www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a26708102/prince-harry-we-day-speech-

transcript-2019/. 

Heath, Sara “Key Barriers Limiting Patient Access to Mental Healthcare.”

PatientEngagementHIT,​ 6 Aug. 2019,

patientengagementhit.com/news/key-barriers-limiting-patient-access-to-mental-healthcar

e.

Lieberman, Jeffrey. “Imagine There Was No Stigma to Mental Illness.” TED. 11 Jan. 2016.  

Lecture.

“National Alliance on Mental Illness.” NAMI. www.nami.org.