Mental Health Messaging Needs To Address Social Exclusion
We suggest that those suffering from mental illness be open about their predicament but still socially exclude them for their problems.
Mental health advocacy and activism have become prominent aspects of modern popular culture. Generally, this has manifested through calls to be more open about one’s mental health and seek treatment when appropriate. For the most part, this is a good thing. Statistically, mental health stigma has precipitously declined over the past two decades. In some cases, the popular culture surrounding mental health can undermine its ambitions. It often serves to ostracize the mentally ill, resulting in the further diminishment of their conditions. This isn’t a call to halt mental health advocacy. Instead, it is a call to enhance it through better public messaging and a better appreciation for social nuance in such messaging.
The popular cultural slogan of “being open” has a significant role to play. Being open is not, in itself, problematic. If someone is suffering from a mental health condition, one of the best things they can do is talk about it transparently with friends, family, and a professional. However, the prescription to “be open” about one mental illness isn’t stated with any qualifications. That…
