I believe that there is so much stigma associated with mental illness because a lot of times mental illness is publicized as a human doing something bad. We don’t hear/see all the good of that human, why the bad occurred, and most importantly we don’t know their story. That person is instantly judged. I believe for that reason some automatically associate that person as unstable and dangerous. I feel that some people pass up on listening or getting to know a person who has a mental illness because they rule them out as not being a “normal human.” Those people aren’t learning and educating themselves on what it truly means to have a mental illness. I believe that if a person with a mental illness didn’t verbalize to someone that they had a mental illness and for example they had an episode of anger, a peer wouldn’t assume they had a mental illness, they may just assume they had a bad day. Self-stigma, some factors that I think contribute to this are: the media, peer groups, fear, people fearing themselves, punishment, labels, and feeling less human.

Some ways that a person’s culture might impact their response to mental illness may be either negatively or positively. Some negative impacts from many different cultures might include not being able to get treatment, not being supported, discrimination, embarrassment for family, financial reasons, or not having the resources for treatment or to diagnose. I also believe it may have to do with fearing opening up and not being accepted and fearing being “kicked out” of their culture. Some positive impacts may be treatment is accepted and people have a positive outlook on getting treatment. I also believe they may feel enlightened, or a sense of purpose, maybe even a powerful connection and hope, they might find healing after praying, and they may just feel better as a whole about themselves and believe that not everyone believes the bad that they see and hear about mental illness. Together religion and spirituality can positively affect how a person with a mental illness views wellness and illness. Finding religion and spirituality that works for them, can give some people peace and a sense of purpose in their life.