Stigmas faced by Children and Adults suffering from Mental Health Issues

Mental Health disorders are on the rise in both children and adults. It is very important to recognize the symptoms and provide necessary treatment to them. As discussed in my previous article , talking about Mental Health is still a stigma in the Indian Society. 

The stigmas faced by children are different from that faced by adults. The Stigmas can prevent children and families from talking about, exploring and addressing any feelings they have, which is an important part of raising healthy children.

Stigmas faced by children  :

The child is lazy / weak :

People believe that the child who is going through a mental illness is lazy and is making an excuse to not  work or complete his homework.

This is just a phase :

Most of the times when there is a change in the behavior patterns of a child, the parents ignore and say that it is just a phase. It can definitely be a phase but if that changed behavior continues then it is necessary to seek help of a professional. The parents need to keep a vigilant watch on their children and they need to keep a check if the child becomes very quiet , talks about harming himself , wants to be left alone, has a loss of appetite or talks about harming himself.

Child's irritable behavior is termed rudeness:

When the child gets irritable or snaps, the parents start saying that the child is rude. One has to keep a check and observe the behavior of their child. If the child gets irritated or snaps very often without any reason then he might be going through some issue. It should not be ignored.

The child is labelled as Incompetent :

If the child is performing well in academics and suddenly the grades fall,  instead of finding the reason of the fall in grades , the child is labelled as incompetent.

Stigmas faced by adults :

People who are suffering from mental illnesses are violent : 

This is not true. A person who is suffering from mental illness is not always violent or dangerous. The family, friends and co-workers isolate the person.

Discrimination :

A person who is suffering from a mental illness faces a lot of discrimination. The employers do not hire them. The health care workers offer them sub standard treatment.

One of the common stigmas that is faced both by adults and children is that both are bullied by peers, family or co workers. Sometimes they are physically harassed too.

This post is my second post of Blogchatter's cause a chatter. In my next post, I will talk about how to overcome these stigmas.