After doing many researches, I conducted my own survey to to further expand my knowledge on mental health. Knowing that it is a touchy topic to broach, my survey will allow me to see what people think of mental health and mentally ill people. It will also reveal whether stigma does, or does not exist. My survey consisted of 15 questions and a free-response question. After sharing the survey link to a few of my closest friends, it was being shared all over Twitter, Snapchat and Wildfire and finally resulted with 58 responses.
Result(s)?
I am surprisingly amazed with the responses to some of the questions asked. From my last post, I have concluded that mental health stigma does not exist. After conducting this survey, I learned that a large amount of people believe they may be viewed negatively if they had a mental disorder. However, three out of four people would not negatively view or judge a person with a mental disorder. From the Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice article, “mental illness stigma has become a major public health concern.” However, we have professional people and advocacy groups starting to introduce some ways to help combat the stigma.
My Findings from the Survey
My survey received 58 responses which includes 38 females, 19 males and 1 unspecified gender. Out of 58 respondents, 43 of them answered “no” to the question “Would you negatively view or judge a mentally ill person?” 13 answered maybe and the other 2 answered yes. Although 43 people from the survey wouldn’t judge a mentally ill person, that leaves 15 people saying they would, or maybe would. What this means in smaller number is that three out of four people would not treat a person differently if they had a mental disorder.
I find it amazing that my numbers from this survey agrees with the survey from Psychiatry Research journal. When reading their study and survey, I realized stigma has been exaggerated because it doesn’t actually exist. The individual struggling with a mental illness creates their own negative beliefs and attitudes, which makes them think other people would view of them as less if they were sick. The following statement, “…three-fourths reported they would not treat a peer differently if they sought treatment,” confirms the same result that I received from my survey. It is a relief knowing people that struggles with their mental health aren’t being treated like they are irregular. As mental health awareness spreads wider, more people will start seeing that it is OK that your psychological state isn’t OK. The only way to make people feel comfortable with themselves and seeking treatment is to show them the support that they need.
Furthermore, another result from one of the questions on my survey also gave me a surprise. I used to think that not many people would take mental health seriously, nor do they think it is real. From the question “Do you believe mental health is real and important?”, 100% of my respondents answered yes. Although I am unsure of how many of my family and friends took this survey, it was mostly sent and shared amongst many of them. This outcome proved that people that I am close to, people that I know do see mental health as being significant.
As you can see, this survey has demonstrated how wrong I was about what people think and thought of mental health. At the end of the survey, I left a section where people can leave a quote or write something small to someone that’s struggling and here are the responses:
I’ve struggled with sharing my stories to family and friends because I was afraid of how different they would look at me. There’s been time when I was told that what I feel or think is “all just in my head.” It’s sure made me afraid to speak to people, but seeing that more and more people are starting to normalize mental health I cannot be any happier. It would be great to see the day when people are no longer embarrassed or afraid to seek help.
Works Cited:
Pedersen, Eric R, and Andrew P Paves. “Comparing Perceived Public Stigma and Personal Stigma of Mental Health Treatment Seeking in a Young Adult Sample.” Psychiatry Research, vol. 219, no. 1, 30 Sept. 2014, pp. 143–150., www-sciencedirect-com.jpllnet.sfsu.edu/science/article/pii/S0165178114003886.
“NAMI.” Home, www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/March-2019/It-s-Not-Stigma-It-s-Discrimination.
“Stigma and Discrimination.” Mental Health Foundation, 14 Aug. 2018, www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/s/stigma-and-discrimination.
