The Lancet Commission on Ending Stigma and Discrimination in Mental Health has stressed that radical action is needed to end stigma and discrimination against people with mental health conditions and their families globally
The Lancet Commission Report on Ending Stigma and Discrimination in Mental Health, which sets out key recommendations to achieve this goal, is a result of a collaboration of more than 50 contributors worldwide.
The commission aims to define stigma through this report and summarise the evidence of how people with lived experience of mental health conditions worldwide currently experience stigma and assess the impact of large-scale programmes to combat stigma among others.
Peer victimisation was reduced after an average of 25 weeks of involvement in a programme using social contact to bring peers with and without disabilities together for shared activities in school and community settings, the report said.
With respect to suicides, the report claims, results showed that psychoeducation and interpersonal contact significantly reduced stigma, which was sustained at 1-month follow-up.
The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the worsening mental health situation globally, and studies show that there was an estimated 25 percent rise in the prevalence of depression and anxiety in the first year of the pandemic.
“Many people with lived experience of mental health conditions describe stigma as ‘worse than the condition itself’. There is now clear evidence that we know how to effectively reduce, and ultimately eliminate, stigma and discrimination. Our Commission makes eight radical, practical, and evidence-based recommendations for action to liberate millions of people around the world from the social isolation, discrimination and violations of human rights caused by stigma,” Commission Co-Chair Professor Sir Graham Thornicroft from King’s College London has said in the report.
Additionally, the report also explores the roles of the media, traditional and newer digital media, in promoting or reducing stigma.
The Commission has provided a four-part definition of stigma in its report: Self-stigma, stigma by association, public stigma and structural stigma.
According to the commission, self or internalised stigma occurs when people with mental health conditions are aware of and agree with the negative stereotypes of others and turn them against themselves.
Globally, people with mental health conditions commonly experience restrictions in employment, voting, property ownership, marriage and divorce.
The Lancet Commission also emphasised that culture has a strong influence on stigma because of the role that it plays in deciding what is considered socially accepted behaviour and in defining the causes of mental health conditions and how they are treated.
(With inputs from PTI)
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