Stigma and Discrimination & Recovery Flashcards
What is the definition of Stigma?
A sign of shame, disgrace or disapproval, To shun or reject
How does stigma impact on people experiencing mental illness, and their friends and family?
- Makes them feel embarrassed
- Limits their ability to want to access healthcare
What is the definition of Discrimination?
Systematic, unfair treatment of people because they are different to someone else
It is a behaviour that says to people with mental illnesses that:
“We don’t want you here”
“You aren’t as good as we are”
What groups can discriminate against people with mental health issues?
- Health professionals
- Family
- Public
- Government policies
What are three strategies which can reduce stigma and discrimination?
- Education
- Protesting (making a complaint)
- Use of language
- Focus on strengths, not deficits
- Health promotion
Name three aspects of life that can be impacted by stigma and discrimination
- Social
- Relationships
- Employment
- Education
- Sport
- Inclusion
- Community
- Housing
- Physical health
- Self perception/esteem
What are 3 words that contribute to stigmatisation of schizophrenia?
- Crazy
- Dangerous
- Schizo
- Stupid
- Psych
- Unpredictable
What is recovery?
Recovery is about having a life outside of mental illness,
Recovery is not the same as being cured. Recovery is an attitude, a way of approaching the day and facing the challenges. Recovery is about being in control
What are the 10 principals for recovery?
- Is borne of HOPE
- Is a JOURNEY defined by the individual
- Needs a SUPPORTIVE environment to thrive
- Involves individuals REDEFINING WHO THEY ARE in the presence of a psychiatric label.
- Is an ACTIVE AND ONGOING process
- Is a NON-LINEAR journey
- Recovery skills can be LEARNT
- Involves a person EDUCATING THEMSELVES about their illness
- Learning to manage both INTERNALISED AND EXTERNAL stigma and discrimination
What are some essentials of a recovery orientated practice?
- Take time to find out how the person feels and what you can do to help them feel safe and secure (creating relationships of safety)
- Explore with the person where they can exercise some choices and decision making (Encouraging patient)
- Adopt a stance of curious questioning, engage from the stance of really wanting to know how they understand their experiences (curiosity)
- Be aware of the potential impact of diagnosis on a person’s identity (Self-identity/esteem)
- Be careful how we label people’s experiences
- We are all experts in our own life (own capacity for self-knowing)
- Focus on the ME (the person) and not the IT (the illness), we are not there to fix people – they need to learn how to “fix” themselves
What is trauma?
Lasting adverse effects on a person’s or collective’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional or spiritual wellbeing, caused by events, circumstances or intergenerational historical traumatic experiences.
What is the broad definition of trauma informed care?
A framework for human service delivery that is based on knowledge and understanding of how trauma effects the peoples lives that emphasises physical, psychological, and emotional safety for both providers and survivors, and that creates opportunities for survivors to rebuild a sense of control and empowerment.
What does a strength based service deliver?
An approach that is grounded in an understanding of and responsiveness to the impact of trauma, that emphasises physical, psychological, and emotional safety for both providers and survivors, and that creates opportunities for survivors to rebuild a sense of control and empowerment
What is a trauma-informed approach?
Strengths-based model of care delivery which focuses on the persons strengths and competencies.
More specifically, what is trauma informed care?
- Acknowledges the role that violence plays in the lives of people seeking
- Mental health and addictions services
- Addressing the impact that traumatic events have had on peoples lives and relationships
- Recognising adaptive functions of “symptoms”
- Not based in medical models (e.g. diagnosis)
- Promotion of empowerment and ‘self’
Making sure we delve into the history of our clients and look for reasons for poor coping skills, emotional dysregulation and why aggressive behaviour is present. It is about identifying triggers and stressors that contribute to poor mental health and mismanagement of perceived crisis.
What are some key features for Trauma informed care
Focusing on what happened to you? Instead of what is wrong with you?
Asking questions about current abuse
Addressing the current risk and developing a safety plan for discharge
One person sensitively asking the questions
Noting that people who are psychotic and delusional can respond reliably to trauma assessments if questions are asked appropriately
What is recovery about?
Recovery is NOT cure focused but rather is about living well in the presence or absence of illness
What is the primary focus of mental health nursing?
Is the consumer and how nurses can facilitate the consumers recovery
What are the Guidelines for the use of language in reducing stigma?
- Refer to people as people first and add specific characteristics only as required – for example, a person with addiction, not an addict, or a person with dementia, not demented
- Avoid referring to people as their illness
- Avoid extending the nature of the person’s illness with terms such as chronic, persistent or severely
- Avoid emotionally negative terms such as victim or suffering from emphasise abilities not limitations
- Avoid offensive expressions such as psycho or crazy
- Avoid metaphoric references to illnesses, such as schizophrenic situation
refer to people as contributing community members, rather than as a burden or a problem.
What is Mental Health?
Psychological state where a person functions at a suitable level of emotional and behavioural stability and comprises the persons ability to enjoy life and balance life events and energies to achieve psychological equilibrium
What is Mental Illness?
Any disease or condition that influences the way a person thinks, feels, behaves and/ or relates to others
What are some impacts on the community with someone experiencing discrimination?
- Social avoidance and exclusion
- Lack of tolerance and knowledge from public services (school, church, general hospitals, police)
- Reputations being inherited.
- Migrant populations
What are some impacts on mental health with someone experiencing discrimination?
- Not being involved in clinical decisions
- Lack of consultation
- Exclusive treatment of individuals
- Assumption of ignorance
- Blamed for problem – Child and adolescent
What are some impacts on the family when someone experiences discrimination
- Lack of education = Inaccuracy in knowledge = possibility of unhelpful/ abusive responses
- Feeling responsible, ashamed of the reputation = less likely to ask for help
- More likely to wait to long before accessing services
- Feeling helpless to fix their loved one and frustrated that Mental Health services can’t either