Lee Health: Reducing the stigma – Mental health conditions are common and treatable

There are awareness months for a variety of medical conditions – from breast and prostate cancer to osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke and more. The month of May is known as Mental Health Month, which started in 1949 and was created by Mental Health America to raise awareness and education about mental health conditions, the realities of living with these conditions and strategies for attaining mental health and wellness. Today, 73 years later, mental health conditions often still carry a stigma that makes people avoid asking for help or seeking treatment. People living with mental health conditions often report feeling shame, embarrassment or guilt.

Paul Simeone, Ph.D., vice president and medical director of Lee Health Behavioral Health, offers these tips for reducing the stigma surrounding mental illness:

Talk about it. “We have to continue to talk about it the same way we have to normalize other differences, whether we’re talking about mental health, gender, sexuality, civil rights, whatever it is that differentiates people from the mainstream tribe,” he says.

Education. “My kids are way more tolerant than I was and I am way more tolerant than my parents,” Dr. Simeone says. “That’s a function of education as a public policy position. Talking about differences is what reduces stigma, including education around the fact that there’s dignity in being different. It doesn’t really matter how we’re different.”

Embrace empathy and validation. Not understanding other people’s struggles can leave us at a loss for the right words to support them. Be thoughtful with your language, Dr. Simeone says. “Having a condition doesn’t define someone, nor should you refer to that person as such. People experience their illnesses, but they aren’t their illnesses. A person isn’t bipolar, she suffers from bipolar disorder. Or, as other examples, avoid using ‘schizophrenic’ to describe volatile changes in the weather, or saying, ‘I’m so OCD’ to describe habits that are not related to an actual obsessive-compulsive disorder.”

Practice tolerance. “A rising tide lifts all boats,” Dr. Simeone says. “That tide is tolerance.”

Mental health illness refers to a wide range of disorders that affect our mood, thinking and behavior. The major types of mental illness include:

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Mood disorders, including bipolar disorder

• Personality disorders

• Psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia

• Trauma

• Eating disorders

• Substance use disorders

Mental health challenges can affect people of all ages, races, ethnicities, gender, education level, social standing and more. Biological factors such as genes or brain chemistry, trauma and abuse, and family history of mental illness can cause mental illness.

In addition to raising awareness and working to reduce the stigma, Lee Health also employs an experienced and caring team of psychiatrists, licensed clinical social workers, advanced registered nurse practitioners, registered nurses and other clinical support staff who work closely with patients and their family members to develop treatment programs. Because we know that mental health conditions are common and treatable.

For more information, visit LeeHealth.org/our-services/behavioral-health.

More: Lee Health: Help us make healthcare better

Larry Antonucci, M.D., MBA is the president & CEO of Lee Health, Southwest Florida’s major destination for health care offering acute care, emergency care, rehabilitation and diagnostic services, health and wellness education, and community outreach and advocacy programs. Visit www.LeeHealth.org to learn more.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Lee Health: Reducing stigma – Mental health issues common, treatable