Mental Health Stigma

Abstract

This chapter discusses the ways in which stigma associated with mental health can impact access to appropriate care, not only for patients but also for healthcare providers themselves. Through these cases the authors will examine the ways in which implicit biases about mental health can impact the quality-of-care patients receive. In the first case, the authors look at the impact of mental illness on a medical student's career path in medicine. In the second case, they analyze the ways in which a person with a substance use disorder is scrutinized and judged in the emergency room setting. In the third case, an individual with a known history of autism and anxiety has their physical medical condition minimized which almost leads to a potentially poor outcome. Each case is unique in its presentation and only scratches the surface at the many different ways mental health and the stigma surrounding it continues to have an impact on the people alongside whom healthcare workers treat and work.