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Consumer/Survivor Information
Challenging Stereotypes: An Action Guide
Foreword
Prejudice, stigmatization, and discrimination are deeply
embedded in our language, in our beliefs, and in the way
we interact with one another. Though a mental illness is
only one aspect of an individual’s life, all too often the label
alone bars that person from achieving a self-directed life with
meaningful connections to his or her community.
This publication, Challenging Stereotypes: An Action Guide,
is intended to help decrease the barriers of prejudice toward
people who have mental illnesses. In the words of U. S. Surgeon
General David Satcher, “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.”
Our goal in the early years of this new millennium is to eliminate
the stigma that is now associated with mental illness. All avenues
of public education must be used to overcome the mispercep-tions
that belie the present-day realities of mental illness. This
publication is just one educational tool to accomplish the task.
We hope it will be useful to members and friends of the
mental health community, and also to groups that develop anti-stigma/
anti-discrimination programs.
| Joseph H. Autry III, M.D. |
Bernard S. Arons, M.D. |
| Acting Administrator |
Director |
| Substance Abuse & Mental Health |
Center for Mental Health Services |
| Services Administration |
Substance Abuse and Mental Health |
|
Services Administration |
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