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Consumer Upate
CMHS Tackles the Stigma of Mental Illness
What is stigma? According to Merriam Webster, America’s foremost dictionary publisher, stigma is defined as “a scar or brand left by a hot iron.” When applied to the field of mental health and substance abuse, stigma hurts, punishes, and diminishes people. It leads to shame, labeling, and discrimination. Stigma has a pervasive and damaging effect on the quality of mental
health services, relationships, and treatment outcomes. It is this pervasive and damaging
effect that CMHS is striving to eliminate.
CMHS is undertaking a number of activities to reduce the stigma of mental illness. Recent
efforts have focused on the development of an Anti-stigma Kit that features a poster, fact
sheet, several brochures about stigma, and a Consumer Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.
The poster and kit were developed in response to a growing number of requests from
advocacy groups, mental health consumers, government agencies, and others. The poster’s message, based on input from a focus group of mental health consumers, is “Know me as a person, not by my mental illness.” It reflects the consumer group’s desire to convey a positive message about people with mental illness. More than 7,000 Anti-stigma Kits have been distributed nationally. Anti-stigma Kits are available from the Information Center. Call toll free at 1-800-789-2647, or fax your request to 240-747-5470. For more information about stigma, you can also visit the Information Center's web site at
mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/stigma.
CMHS also funded the production of a 30-minute video entitled, “Stigma…in Our Work,
in Our Lives.” The video was created by The Anti-Stigma Project of On Our Own of
Maryland, Inc., a statewide consumer advocacy group. The video is a compilation of
interviews with service providers and consumers of mental health services and their families.
The interviews focus on the manifestations, effects, and possible solutions to stigma
in the mental health and substance abuse service systems.
Another CMHS effort aimed at combating stigma is the development and sponsorship of
an in-house interactive workshop designed to reduce stigmatizing attitudes, behaviors, and
practices within the mental health and substance abuse communities. CMHS is also developing a guidebook for addressing stigma in the media. The publication will offer step-by-step instructions for responding to editors, producers, advertisers, and others that perpetuate inaccurate or stigmatizing images of mental illness in the media.
Other CMHS anti-stigma efforts include:
Development of bilingual radio public service announcements (PSAs) for distribution to Spanish-language stations;
A series of dialogues with multi-disciplinary professionals and consumers; and
Oversight of a SAMHSA-wide Anti-stigma Work Group to address stigma in the
mental health field and stigma as it relates to substance abuse.
A newly formed subcommittee of the CMHS National Advisory Council is also tackling the
issue of stigma. Known as the Consumer/Survivor Subcommittee, the body was established
to provide guidance and feedback to the Advisory Council on mental health-related
activities and policies. The new subcommittee is comprised of consumers and survivors who
have received mental health services and is designed to promote consumer/survivor
participation in the deliberations of the Advisory Council. It will serve as a fact-finding
body that reports on specific needs, issues, and concerns from the perspective of people
living with mental illness. The subcommittee is an extension of CMHS’ continuing efforts to
involve consumers/survivors at every level of the mental health system.
At the September 2000 meeting of the CMHS National Advisory Council, the subcommittee
made a formal recommendation to endorse the use of the phrase “discrimination and stigma,” rather than using “stigma” alone. The recommendation was based on the belief that use of the word “stigma” creates a special vocabulary that merely furthers the isolation and exclusion of people with mental illness.
Efforts by the current Administration are also focusing more attention on the issue of stigma
nationwide. Mrs. Tipper Gore, National Advisor to the President on Mental Health, and U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher are leading a national effort to reduce the stigma of mental illness. In June 1999, Mrs. Gore chaired the first-ever White House Conference on Mental Health. CMHS helped to set the agenda and develop the messages for this conference. Conference messages were: mental health services work; education, employment, and housing are both sought
after and possible goals for people with mental illness; and the stigma that has long prevented people from seeking mental health treatment must end. The conference brought together consumers, providers, advocacy groups, lawmakers, business and community leaders, and mental health authorities.
The anti-stigma message is also an overarching theme of the Nation’s first Surgeon General’s report to focus exclusively on mental health. CMHS was the lead agency in developing the groundbreaking report, which was released at a White House event in December 1999. The report sets the stage for change by highlighting the need to dispel the myths and stigma associated with mental illness. As Dr. Satcher noted, “We have allowed stigma and a now unwarranted sense
of hopelessness about the opportunities for recovery from mental illness to erect these
barriers. It is time to take them down.” The Surgeon General’s report will serve as a focal
point for many future activities within CMHS.
For more information about CMHS anti-stigma activities, contact Iris Hyman at 301-443-9824.
Information Center Bulletin
Volume 3, No. 2
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