The Stigma Around Mental Health

Imagine your friend’s been dealing with constant knee pain. It hurts when they walk, when they sit, even when they’re just trying to rest. It’s clearly affecting their daily life.

Now, imagine responding with something like: “Other people have worse injuries, you should just push through,” or “Maybe if you were stronger, you wouldn’t let it affect you so much.”

Sounds ridiculous, right? You’d never say that. In fact, you’d probably be concerned, encourage them to see a doctor, maybe even help them find one.

While physical pain is often taken seriously, mental health struggles are frequently judged, minimized, or dismissed. This reflects the widespread and complex problem of mental health stigma, which operates on multiple levels.

Stigma thrives on misunderstanding, fear, and misinformation. And breaking it starts with recognizing just how deeply ingrained these double standards are—and choosing to challenge them, wherever they appear.

Understanding Mental Health Stigma

Historically, the word “stigma” referred to a mark of shame or disgrace used to set people—such as criminals, slaves, or traitors—apart in a negative way. In modern times, stigma manifests as prejudice, negative attitudes, harmful stereotypes, and social exclusion toward individuals or marginalized groups based on certain characteristics. This includes illness, disability, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, gender identity, and, of course, mental health conditions.

Types of Stigma

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, several types of stigma are common today in mental health, with the most significant ones being:

• Public stigma or what society thinks: This occurs when people judge or stereotype mental health struggles instead of seeing them as real, valid conditions. It’s the same idea as the knee pain example in the introduction—when someone struggling is met with dismissive or unfair reactions rather than support. 
• Self-stigma or what you think about yourself: This happens when societal attitudes and external judgments start affecting how you see yourself. Maybe you’re feeling overwhelmed and know you should see a therapist, but you think, “If I need help, does that mean I’m weak?” 
• Structural stigma or what the system does: This occurs when policies, laws, or workplace practices create barriers to mental health care. For example, companies offering sick leave for physical illnesses but not for mental health, or insurance covering surgery but providing little to no coverage for therapy and psychiatric care. 

Why Does the Stigma Around Mental Health Exist?

Despite growing awareness, many of us may still hesitate to talk about our mental health or seek help when we need it. Mental health stigma persists for several reasons.

Cultural Beliefs

In many cultures, mental health struggles aren’t always seen as real health issues. Instead, they’re treated as personal weaknesses—something you should “just get over.” This perspective can discourage us from pursuing therapy, as doing so might be seen as admitting to a failure. A study exploring mental health stigma in the Indian context highlighted that mental health issues are often misunderstood due to deep-rooted cultural beliefs. Many people attribute conditions like depression or anxiety to supernatural causes or view them as consequences of past misdeeds. Additionally, research indicates that while 87% of Indians are aware of mental illnesses, a significant 71% still use stigmatizing language when discussing them. 

Lack of Awareness

Many people think therapy is only for those with severe mental illness. If you’re functioning—going to work, handling responsibilities, managing daily life—you might feel like your struggles aren’t “bad enough” to deserve help. But mental health, like physical health, isn’t just about extremes.

Think of it this way: You don’t wait for a broken bone to take care of your body, so why wait for a mental health crisis to take care of your mind? Therapy is for anyone who wants to manage stress, unlearn certain conditioning, or simply understand themselves better.

Fear of Being Judged

Even if you know therapy could help, the fear of what others might think can hold you back. Will people see you differently? Will they think you’re weak, unstable, or overreacting?

Stigma shows up in the workplace, in social circles, even in families. Some worry that if they talk about their mental health, they’ll be treated differently at work—passed over for promotions or seen as unreliable. Others fear their friends or family won’t take them seriously. This fear is often justified, as discrimination against people with mental health conditions is real. 

The Impact of Stigma on Mental Health

Many people don’t get the mental health support they need because they’re afraid of being judged. A global study of over 90,000 participants found that stigma is one of the biggest reasons people avoid treatment. In fact, about 60% of adults with mental health conditions choose not to seek help because they fear discrimination.

When someone struggles with their mental health, they often feel disconnected from friends, family, and society. Research shows that nearly 90% of people with mental health challenges say stigma and discrimination negatively impact their lives, making it harder to get jobs, secure housing, and build relationships. 

Studies also show that self-stigma can make symptoms worse and slow down recovery, especially for those with serious mental health conditions. 

Groups More Impacted by Stigma

Research shows that 6 million men in the U.S. experience depression annually, yet they are far less likely than women to seek help. Societal expectations and traditional masculinity norms often discourage men from expressing vulnerability, reinforcing stigma and delaying treatment. 

LGBTQ+ youth face heightened mental health challenges, with 1 in 3 reporting their mental health is negatively affected most of the time due to anti-LGBTQ+ policies. Worse, half of those who needed mental health care in the past year couldn’t access it, underscoring the systemic barriers they face. 

Challenging Stigma Starts With Us

Stigma isn’t always loud. Sometimes, it’s the quiet assumptions, the casual dismissals, or the hesitation to say, “I’m not okay.” And often, it’s the fear that speaking up will change how others see you.

But when we start to understand where that fear comes from—whether it’s cultural beliefs, outdated ideas about strength, or simply not knowing better—we open the door to change and understanding.

Talking about mental health shouldn’t feel risky. It should feel normal. Just like we check in on our physical health, we should be able to talk about our mental well-being without shame or second-guessing.

It starts with how we respond, how we listen, how we talk to each other—and how we talk to ourselves. Because every time we choose understanding over judgment, we make it just a little easier for someone to ask for help.

And that’s how things start to change.