Why Ignorance Isn't an Excuse for Mental Health Stigma

Using ignorance as an excuse doesn't mean what someone said or did wasn't stigmatizing toward mental health or, more specifically, mental illness. Why? Because stigma isn't about intent. Stigma is the negative ideas and misconceptions of mental illness, whether intended or not. Ignorance only determines whether you're mistakenly stigmatizing mental health or doing it on purpose. But stigma is stigma, whether you know any better or not.

What Is Ignorance and How Does It Factor into Mental Health Stigma?

The words ignorance and ignorant are often used as insults in an effort to "prove" that someone isn't smart. But, Oxford Dictionaries defines ignorance as "lack of knowledge or information."¹

So, really, it simply means the person doesn't know something. Ignorance in and of itself can also be intentional or unintentional. Willful ignorance, I say, is more damaging that unintentional ignorance. But here's how unintentional ignorance can be harmful, too.

If someone doesn't know correct information about a topic, there's a chance they may spread misconceptions about it. This happens regularly with mental health. People that don't know any better or don't realize how what they're saying is wrong and hurtful misuse terms like "crazy," "OCD," "bipolar," and "depression." This spreads negative ideas such as instability and choice and misrepresents mental illnesses by oversimplifying them. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is one that often falls to this as people talk about "having OCD" because they're neat freaks. Depression is often portrayed as a slump or irrational choice to be sad ("Sadness vs. Depression: What's the Difference?").

When people say these things, they're not necessarily trying to be mean and belittling, but what they're saying is stigmatizing all the same.

How to Prevent Ignorance-Based Stigma from Spreading

In these cases, education of mental health issues is our biggest asset. I know I've written a lot before about how some people just aren't receptive to correct information about mental illness("What If Mental Illness Stigma Never Goes Away?"), but I've found when it comes to people who are unintentionally spreading stigma, they're willing to listen and learn when I've had a conversation with them about mental health. The key is to do so without going on the defensive because that will likely set them on the defensive too. Here are a couple tactics you can use:

1. Tell people how what they've said is hurtful to people with mental illness. Often the missing link is the human connection. Empathy or even sympathy are powerful tools in changing behaviors and mindsets because it takes something that was just a concept and makes it real.
2. Explain the realities of mental health. Doing this helps ensure stigma won't spread. People like to share what they know with others, so this is a great opportunity to give them something worth sharing.

I recommend approaching them in that order, otherwise, you're just sloughing off more information that doesn't quite land anywhere. Although it doesn't always seem like it, humans are made to connect with one another. So let's use that connection to counteract ignorance and stop the spread of stigma.

Sources

1. Oxford University Press. Definition of Ignorance. OxfordDictionaries.com. Accessed December 15, 2018.