Across society, mental and behavioral health issues are all too often treated like something to hide—and that stigma has profound negative consequences for individuals struggling with their health. More than half of people with mental illnesses avoid or delay seeking help for their conditions, often due to concerns about being subjected to prejudice or discrimination surrounding their conditions, according to a report from Psychiatry.org1. Individuals struggling with mental and behavioral health need to feel safe and supported—yet often, they don’t.
We all have our own parts to play in ending mental health stigma and achieving better outcomes for the individuals we serve—and in this article, we will explore how to reduce stigma in mental health treatment and improve individual outcomes.
Why Behavioral Health Stigma Is a Serious Problem
The stigma is surrounding mental and behavioral health conditions does more than just hurt feelings. It’s a form of discrimination that stops people from receiving the care they need. There is both stigma from individuals, such as family or friends, and structural and institutional stigma baked into healthcare systems that throw up barriers between individuals and the treatment they need2. This stigma is especially dangerous for individuals struggling with substance abuse—where their condition is often treated like a moral failing instead of a health issue, even by people who ought to know better3.
People may hesitate to seek help or stick with treatment because they feel judged or misunderstood due to their condition. They may have experienced being mistreated by not only friends, family, or employers, but also by the healthcare professionals they ought to be able to trust on the basis of their health conditions. Self-doubt, shame, and other issues can lead to people rejecting life-changing or life-saving treatments out of fear. Even if they do overcome the individual stigma they face, structural stigma can prevent them from being able to access or afford treatment.
Behavioral health stigma may be a big problem, but there are little things we can do every day to end it:
Strategy 1: Change the Way We Talk
Behavioral health providers know that language matters. Simply using person-first and non stigmatizing language and referring to someone as a “person in recovery” rather than an “addict” is a small but meaningful way to reduce stigma and support treatment outcomes4. It’s a practice many providers already embrace, but it’s always worth reinforcing how much words can shape perceptions and experiences.
Strategy 2: Educate Everyone
A significant source of behavioral health stigma is a lack of education about mental health and substance use issues—and we’re not just talking about low health literacy for the individuals in your care.
Make sure your staff understands mental health and substance use issues and knows how to handle stigmatized topics with care and sensitivity. A well-educated and sensitive staff is better equipped to educate the individuals you serve about the treatment options available to them and prevent dangerous misconceptions from impacting their health.
Strategy 3: Build Stigma-Reduction Programs
Peer-to-peer support groups on popular social media platforms have helped people with serious mental illnesses find communities of like-minded individuals and fight against behavioral health stigma5. These groups are powerful tools for unlearning the shame and fear individual and institutional stigma create in people—and by creating similar groups and programs, you can do your part to help the people you serve share their stories and lift each other up—and challenge negative stereotypes about behavioral health conditions.
Strategy 4: Create Judgment-Free Zones
Do the individuals in your care know that they can trust you with their mental health concerns? By being open about your mental health advocacy and encouraging open conversation, you can show the individuals in your care that you are a safe person to talk to. Make sure to educate them about the confidentiality of the information they share with you and encourage them to speak openly about both their struggles and their successes.
Strategy 5: Push For Institutional Change
Unfortunately, behavioral health stigma is baked into many of our healthcare institutions. To truly end mental health stigma, healthcare professionals need to do more than just change how they talk to and about people with behavioral health conditions such as mental illnesses or substance abuse issues. We need to stand together and advocate for policies that tear down institutional barriers and make behavioral healthcare more accessible to those who need it most.
This includes supporting mental health parity laws that ensure behavioral health treatments are covered just like physical health care. Expanding funding for community-based programs, such as crisis intervention teams and peer support networks, is another way to create a more accessible and inclusive system. Advocating for telehealth expansion can help underserved areas get the behavioral health support they need, while pushing to simplify preauthorization requirements can ensure patients receive timely, life-saving treatments like long-acting injectables (LAIAs) or medication-assisted treatment (MAT).
Behavioral Health Pharmacy: Your Ally in the Fight to End Mental Health Stigma
Without breaking the stigma of mental health conditions, individuals struggle to access the treatment and medication they need to live better lives. It is not the individual’s sole responsibility to overcome behavioral health stigma—we all must work together.
Reducing the stigma associated with substance abuse, mental illness, and other behavioral health conditions is a daunting task, but it can be done by changing how we talk about mental health, educating staff and individuals, and building supportive environments.
By providing patients with easier access to essential medications, streamlining processes for facilities, and offering financial assistance, Altruix partners with behavioral health professionals to create a system that prioritizes care and reduces behavioral health stigma.
Together, we can work toward policies and practices that make behavioral healthcare more accessible for everyone. Reach out to us today to discover the benefits of a partnership for the individuals in your care.
Sources Cited:
- Singhal, Nikhita. “Stigma, Prejudice and Discrimination against People with Mental Illness.” American Psychiatric Association, Mar. 2024, www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/stigma-and-discrimination.
- Phelan, Sean M., et al. “Patient and Health Care Professional Perspectives on Stigma in Integrated Behavioral Health: Barriers and Recommendations.” The Annals of Family Medicine, vol. 21, no. Suppl 2, Feb. 2023, pp. S56–S60, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9970680/, https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2924.
- NIDA. “Stigma and Discrimination.” National Institute on Drug Abuse, 21 Dec. 2021, nida.nih.gov/research-topics/stigma-discrimination.
- DeAngelis, Tori. “Fighting Stigma by Mental Health Providers toward Patients.” Apa.org, 2024, www.apa.org/monitor/2024/07/stigma-against-patients.
- Naslund, J. A., et al. “The Future of Mental Health Care: Peer-To-Peer Support and Social Media.” Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, vol. 25, no. 2, 8 Jan. 2016, pp. 113–122, www.cambridge.org/core/journals/epidemiology-and-psychiatric-sciences/article/future-of-mental-health-care-peertopeer-support-and-social-media/DC0FB362B67DF2A48D42D487ED07C783, https://doi.org/10.1017/s2045796015001067.
