Stop mental health stigma

1. Be informed

There is a lot information on mental health and mental illness. The information is presented in many ways, from different perspectives and it caters for different needs. There are videos, talks, books articles and blogs on various mental health topics. More importantly there are also opportunities to engage in conversations about mental health through webinars.

You may find the following useful:

https://www.sadag.org/

A book by Dr Samke Ngcobo is also useful: Reflections of a Convoluted Mind: A journey with My Mental Illness. I found it on Amazon.

2. Introspect

Reflecting and evaluating on your own thoughts, attitudes and knowledge about mental health and mental illness is an important step in self-awareness about your own potential to stigmatise others. Self-awareness is sometimes a catalyst for the required change. Once you become aware of how your attitudes and behaviours (covered in our blog last week) perpetuate and promote mental health stigma, it is possible to start the journey of changing these to stop mental health stigma.

3. Be involved in the mental health community

Mental illness affects individuals, families and communities. Therefore to overcome mental health stigma, we need to be united in challenging and correcting stereotypes about mental illness. It is therefore important that we all engage in efforts to prevent mental illness, supporting those with mental health challenges and normalising conversations about mental health and mental illness.

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Dr Sibu Qhogwana

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