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It's estimated that 1 in 5 people in Canada and the United States experience mental health difficulties each year (statistics may likely be changing during the current pandemic), with such problems commonly beginning in childhood or adolescence. Yet, there continues to be a stigma around seeking support.
As a child and adolescent psychologist, I work with many families addressing various issues around mental health. What sparked this post is a combination of my work with parents who think there is “something wrong” with them because they need some guidance and support with their children, my own mental health research in vulnerable populations, and my ongoing admiration for Brené Brown’s work on vulnerability, courage, shame, and guilt. Many of us often feel that we should be able to deal with things as they come and that seeing a therapist is a sign of weakness. I’ve seen many wonderful, empathetic, hardworking parents say, “I need help,” while simultaneously saying, “I am obviously doing something wrong because I am here.”
Being proactive and seeking support does not mean someone has done anything wrong. In fact, seeking support involves both vulnerability and courage because in the end, we would be doing our children an injustice to push these issues aside and carry on. Untreated mental health challenges can affect individuals as well as their families on various levels, including increased chronic stress and ongoing feelings of hopelessness that can lead to suicidal thoughts.
In fact, research shows that if mental health concerns are not addressed early, they are likely to worsen. Some individuals may get trapped in a cycle of moving in and out of emergency departments.
Members of some groups may be at especially high risk of not receiving mental health support in a timely manner. National research within Canada conducted by Yona Lunsky and colleagues has consistently found that people with developmental disabilities are hospitalized at rates that are significantly higher than those without them. Part of the reason for this is general practitioners’ lack of understanding when it comes to diagnosing mental health problems in individuals with such disabilities, diagnoses that often require information from various sources and different settings. As a result, these people face significant barriers when accessing appropriate and timely mental health care.
The Canadian awareness campaign Bell Let’s Talk was launched in 2011 to promote talking widely about mental health/illness as a way to reduce the stigma, There have been significant changes noted in society’s awareness and attitudes with respect to mental health. In their 2015 report, Bell Let’s Talk indicated that 57 percent of Canadians believed that the stigma associated with mental illness had been reduced compared to five years ago. At the same time, the stigma around seeking mental health support and poor awareness of what services to access persisted. Research indicates that only about one-third of individuals in Canada who experience mental health challenges actually access the services and support that can help them. These issues extend into treatment for children and adolescents, with only 25 percent receiving appropriate treatment services.
Culture can also play a big role in mental health stigma. Every culture perceives mental health differently, and how people understand mental health varies. This can affect whether someone chooses to recognize and discuss mental health symptoms. For instance, recently in Ontario, a South Asian parent, Baljit Ghuman, shared that disability is considered to be a “taboo topic” by many within the Punjabi Sikh community and is often linked to feelings of shame.
Education around mental health is essential. One way to reach communities is through the voices of people with lived experiences. In Baljit Ghuman’s case, he and his family launched the Sikhs for Autism awareness campaign on social and local media; it successfully reached many families within the community by connecting them through their native language.
Increasingly, more and more ethnic groups are initiating mental health support groups within their communities. This may be a good initial step for individuals who have mental health concerns but lack awareness and may be hesitant to seek more formal mental health support.
Mental health/illness perceptions matter as they influence how we do or don’t seek mental health support. Brené Brown has conducted extensive research on shame, guilt, vulnerability, and courage, and she has noted that “when we find the courage to share our experiences and the compassion to hear others tell their stories, we force shame out of hiding and end the silence.”
We all experience mental health challenges in one form or another throughout our lives, and mental health/illness may be seen on a continuum. It is within open conversations, starting with parents and children, that we can normalize mental health challenges and learn the importance of seeking support when needed, just as we do with physical health.
In sum, along with our evolving understanding of mental health and its importance, it is vital to develop alternative sources of support within the community, such as peer support groups where people may feel more at ease. Hearing voices from others in our communities who experience mental health challenges is an important step toward reducing stigma and bringing forth increased acceptance and awareness of these issues.
At the end of the day, our system must be comprehensive, promoting mental health for people of all ages, and flexible in supporting these individuals in ways they feel are accessible and manageable for them. Remember: It’s OK not to be OK.
References
Bell Canada (2015). Bell Let’s Talk: The first 5 years (2010–2015).
Mental Health Commission of Canada (2009). Toward Recovery & Well-Being.
Ghuman, B. (2021). Autism is Taboo in our culture. Our daughter’s diagnosis made us face it.
