Over 50 million people suffer from mental health issues. The American Psychological Association stresses that psychological well-being should be a high priority for all workers. But many employees are reluctant to seek support because of the stigma associated with mental health issues. Men especially are less likely than women to seek support because of the stigma of mental health treatment. Reports suggest that 78% of employees say their employers are not doing enough to address their mental wellness at work.
Truth be told, everybody has a mental health issue of some sort. It could be feeling anxious about biopsy results, worried that your teenager is driving in an ice storm or fear of not being able to make ends meet in a bad economy. Our emotions can hijack our mental health in a nanosecond and interfere with our serenity and well-being. The stigma of mental health treatment prevents many people from acknowledging their issues, much less seeking help for them. Much more needs to be done to educate employers and employees about mental health wellness.
Stigma Of Mental Health Treatment
Numerous myths add to the stigma of mental health treatment that are reinforced in novels, television and movies and in the workplace. Mental health clinicians are often portrayed as incompetent hacks, more disturbed than their clients. Here are the most common misconceptions:
- People who seek mental health treatment are weak, mentally ill or crazy. Untrue. Nowadays if you seek treatment, it’s viewed as a sign of self-care and wellness. The average client struggles with many of the same problems we all struggle with on a daily basis: relationships, self-doubt, confidence, self-esteem, work-life balance, life transitions, depression and anxiety. The preferred designation for the person in therapy is “client,” not “patient,” for that very reason. Over my twenty-five years of experience, I’ve often said that the folks I treat in therapy are mentally healthier than some people walking the streets who fear the stigma of mental health counseling.
- Mental health practitioners sit behind desks taking notes while you lie on a couch. Trained clinicians know the arrangement and distance between clients are critical for a safe and workable therapeutic alliance. Psychological or physical distance create subtle authority and intimidation and an inability for client’s to fully connect and disclose information pertinent to treatment. The typical therapeutic setting is much like a living room where both parties sit in comfortable chairs without barriers between them. Good therapists often ask if the distance is comfortable and delay taking notes until after the session so they’re fully present.
- Mental health practitioners and clients become best friends. There is no basis in the myth often seen in literature that you pay a therapist to be nice to you and care for you. The therapeutic relationship is a psychologically intimate but strictly professional one. It’s the therapist’s commitment and requirement of ethics and law that the relationship be limited to counseling sessions and necessary email, phone or text contacts. Clinicians who break the boundary between a professional relationship and friendship can lose their licenses for such infractions.
- Mental health treatment is mostly someone telling you what to do. Scenes in novels and TV shows where therapists just listen to clients vent, nod their heads in approval and mirror back the same words are stereotypes. So are cases in fiction where therapists interpret clients’ experiences for them instead of eliciting a client’s own interpretations. With today’s cutting-edge therapies, clinicians are trained in experiential and therapist-led modalities that engage both parties in an interactive collaborative process based on dialogue and the client’s active engagement in joint problem solving. Together clinicians and clients identify problems, set goals and monitor progress with homework and reading assignments as part of the process.
- Mental health practitioners have ready-made solutions for all of life’s problems. A good therapist tailors treatment sessions around the needs of clients instead of plugging clients into ready-made formulas. Listening to the content of the story, plus deeper themes and patterns, allows clinicians to mirror feedback based on emerging themes and patterns that facilitate change—not just repetitive words and phrases that clients supply.
- Mental health practitioners shame clients for their problems. Despite the theatrics of Dr. Phil, a well-trained therapist doesn’t blame or shame. They don’t judge clients or their parents. They bring an objective, bird’s-eye perspective to help clients see the water they’re swimming in, so they can take responsibility for their lives. Trained clinicians never admonish, blame or shame clients into change. Never.
- Mental health practitioners share your issues with your employer. Clinicians are trained to help clients work through personal problems. The client’s name and personal story are strictly confidential. In an episode of the TV series “The Sopranos,” an ethical lapse occurred when one therapist revealed the name of another therapist’s client across a crowded table at a dinner party of clinicians. The next day, the episode outraged clients and therapists around the country because of this egregious ethical violation. Some fans lost faith in their ability to maintain “belief” in the television program.
- Mental health sessions are a quick fix. While convenient for the novel or television show to have a character “fixed” in a session or two, it doesn’t work that way in real life. The average session is around fifty-to-sixty minutes and the first session is basically an intake and getting acquainted session. To get to the heart of a problem, therapy takes many more sessions over time. On the flip side, as in “The Sopranos,” psychotherapy rarely takes six or seven years. Something’s not working when a client stays with the same therapist for long periods of time. The average therapy course is three to four months.
- Mental health practitioners believe that your personality is cemented by age five. The belief that you can’t teach old dogs new tricks is perhaps the biggest myth of all. In a novel when a therapist says personality is fixed by age five, it’s laughable, and the story loses credibility. Neuroscience shows through MRI technology that the brain is malleable. The latest psychotherapy techniques utilize neuroplasticity—the creation of new neural pathways in the brain and the potential for new beliefs and behaviors throughout life from womb to tomb.
- Clinicians make clients immediately better after each session. This scenario might be convenient for a story line, but it’s a myth. Clients are not cars, and therapists aren’t mechanics. Clients are active participants while therapists help them face and uncover whatever is bothering them. The process takes time and can be initially difficult and painful. Having feelings stirred up is part of the therapeutic process. Clinicians often say sometimes things get worse before they get better. But skilled therapists are trained to lead clients through the storm into the calm.
Final Wrap On The Stigma Of Mental Health Treatment
If you or someone you know is struggling with the stigma of mental health treatment that’s keeping them from getting support, contact Mental Health America to find resources closest to you. Or if you’re in crisis, the Crisis Text Line can connect you with a crisis counselor for free and confidential 24/7 support.