Persuasive writing on the stigmas and discrimination that people with mental illnesses face and how it affect their lives.

People who struggle with mental health illnesses are treated terribly by society and exploited for the gains of others in modern society. There are many mental illnesses out there, and we all know of the most common mental illnesses many struggle with, such as Depression, Anxiety, ADHD, OCD, or even the many different eating disorders. These well-known common illnesses are still seen as taboo now. Imagine how a society like that would view the uncommon and unknown; illnesses that are uncommon and unknown to most people are viewed. In the article “Stigma, Prejudice and Discrimination Against People with Mental Illness.” Posted on the APA (American Psychiatric Association), the first opening paragraph helps point out this point, stating, “More than half of people with mental illness don’t receive help for their disorders. Often, people avoid or delay seeking treatment due to concerns about being treated differently or fears of losing their jobs and livelihood.” If more than half of the people who have been diagnosed with mental illness have refused to seek treatment due to the fear of facing all the stigmas that come with it from others, imagine how many people are even scared to get a proper diagnosis due to those same stigmas. Stigma often comes from lack of understanding or fear. Inaccurate or misleading media representations of mental illness contribute to both those factors, in the review of studies on stigmas posted on NIH (National Library of Medicine).