Fighting mental illness stigmas (Part 1 of 4)

joshpeterson (58)in #steemstem • 7 years ago (edited)

| Image: "Asylum Fire," by darkday | Source: Flickr | Rights: (CC BY 2.0) |

Word Count: 1,180 | Est. Reading Time: 4:17 min | Readability Rating: A

"I Have Sworn Upon the Altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush

Intro

There is an ancient Hindu parable in which a king orders several blind men to describe an elephant. Each man, placed near a separate body part of the creature, described it in a different way thinking their answer was the correct one. I find myself continually asking which of the blind men I am.

While much of the world's social media focused on the onslaught of natural disasters around the globe, such as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in the U.S., Andrew Tate, a former professional kickboxer in the U.K., tweeted in earnest, like a cult leader recruiting new followers, that "depression isn't real." Had J.K. Rowling not drawn attention to Tate's sermon, I likely would have remained in the dark about this prizefighter-turned-tabloid-heel.

You can read my initial response to Tate here, which includes links to articles and scientific studies on American suicide and depression statistics; my follow-up response on the mental health issues facing the 9/11 first responders here; and finally, my thread on the scientific literature researching the relationship between inflammation and depression here. Here are also some links to the Wikipedia articles on depression and mental illness.

This is the beginning of a 4-part series.

Responding

Tate dogmatically defends his machismo like a zealot, in spite of the evidence. And while he certainly has the right to express his false gospel, any of his followers afraid to reach out for medical help might now think twice. Tate's words are typical of the stigma many people who suffer from mental illness, including depression, face on a daily basis.

As someone with a front-row seat to mental illness, Tate's remarks - including his insinuation that people claiming to suffer from depression were lazy - offended me. But I resisted lashing out at Tate, and instead replied with links about the science of depression, suicide, and mental illness.

I had remembered how the last time a similar opportunity presented itself, another Internet stranger used it to spread awareness. Her example inspired me. The resulting response was nothing short of mind-altering, overwhelming, humbling, and awe-inspiring.

Scientists, medical professionals, and military veterans, and many other suicide and depression victims, tweeted me their stories, their support, and their gratitude. Several thousand responses spanned the globe and the ideological spectrum. Mental health and suicide prevention advocacy organizations, including members of To Write Love on Her Arms, and Hollywood actors Patton Oswalt and James Woods, also expressed their support and gratitude. News outlets ranging from the Washington Examiner, Twitchy, UpWorthy, The Sun, and MetroUK, all wrote about my response to Tate.

Stigma Statistics

According to a 2011 BioMed Central study, "depression affects 121 million people worldwide."

"Based on detailed interviews with over 89,000 people, the results showed that 15% of the population from high-income countries (compared to 11% for low/middle-income countries) were likely to get depression over their lifetime with 5.5% having had depression in the last year."

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), however, the number of people affected globally globally by depression is over twice that amount (300 million).

In 2014, the WHO reported that over 800,000 people die a year from suicide, or roughly "one person every 40 seconds." Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people, and the 17th leading cause of death globally, as of 2015.

"The proportion of all deaths due to suicide and the rank of suicide as a cause of death vary greatly by age. Globally, among young adults 15−29 years of age suicide accounts for 8.5% of all deaths and is ranked as the second leading cause of death (after traffic accidents). Among adults aged 30−49 years it accounts for 4.1% of all deaths and is ranked the fifth leading cause of death. Remarkably, in high-income countries and in LMICs of the South-East Asia Region suicide accounts for 17.6% and 16.6% respectively of all deaths among young adults aged 15−29 years and represents the leading cause of death for both sexes."

Stigmatization is both isolating and harmful.

For example, a 2008 survey by the Canadian Medical Association found that half of Canadian adults "would tell friends or co-workers that they have a family member suffering from a mental illness." Nearly half of Canadian adults (46 percent) "think people use the term mental illness as an excuse for bad behaviour."

The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found in a 2007 report that while a strong majority of U.S. adults believed that treatment could help people with mental illness "lead normal lives," only 25 percent of U.S. adults "with mental health symptoms believed that people are caring and sympathetic to persons with mental illness." The National Alliance on Mental Illness wrote that the "average delay between the onset of symptoms and intervention is 8-10 years."

For lists of international suicide prevention hotlines, you can click here, here, here, and here.

For guides on responsible media reporting about suicide, click here, here, and here.

Before I counter any recent claims made by Tate, in the next part of this series I will briefly attempt to empathize with his point of view in order to better understand him.

Thank you for reading,

Josh

Series Navigation: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Fighting mental illness stigmas (Part 1 of 4)

Word Count: 1,180 | Est. Reading Time: 4:17 min | Readability Rating: A

Intro

Responding

Stigma Statistics

For lists of international suicide prevention hotlines, you can click here, here, here, and here.

For guides on responsible media reporting about suicide, click here, here, and here.

Next

Further Reading

View History

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