Mental Health Stigma in Seniors: Understanding the Impact of Silence

Sometimes, the most important conversations to have are the most difficult. For example, consider mental health. Most people find this a difficult topic to think about, but some are more open to discussing it than others.

According to Psychology Today, the younger generation is quite comfortable discussing their struggles with anxiety or depression.

But if you compare Gen Z to seniors, you'll see that the older generation is particularly stoic and silent regarding their mental health struggles.

There's a clear generational difference, and older people simply don't discuss these topics. The reason for this is mental health stigma. The harmful, biased, and hurtful false impressions about mental health that spread through society, organizations in Lafayette, Colorado.

Are you interested in learning more about mental health stigma and how local seniors can break the wall of silence? Read on to learn more about this crucial emotional care and aging topic.

What Is Mental Health Stigma?

Mental health stigma is the attitude and beliefs that people have about mental health that are based on bias or falsehood. Essentially, if you bring up the topic of mental health to someone with a stigmatized attitude, they're likely to provide a negative response.

According to Time.com, ideally, people who disclose conditions like depression or anxiety should get support from their peers and encourage open, empathetic, and patient conversation. This helps people to bounce back from such conditions, and it also makes them feel more confident discussing them, which in turn can be an effective way of recovering.

Sadly, a stigmatized attitude is the opposite. People who believe the problematic ideas caused by mental health stigmatization are likely to make people suffering from illness feel belittled or misunderstood, or just plain bad.

The Types of Mental Health Stigma

Understanding mental health stigma is key if you want to provide emotional support. And there are three broad categories of mental health stigma. Here's what they are and how they work.

Societal Stigma

The first type is societal stigma. And this is where ideas about mental health stigma begin and start to proliferate. Essentially, societal mental health stigma refers to the prevailing negative attitudes in a town like Lafayette, Colorado.

Imagine that a senior talks to a person in town and tells them they're struggling with something like depression or anxiety. Some people might be dismissive and view the senior as weak, incapable, or even dangerous.

Often, the people spreading these stigmatized attitudes don't have much experience with mental illness. Nor have they spent much time learning about the topic. More or less, they're simply repeating other things that they've heard in passing.

Based on this logic, you can see how mental health stigma spreads and proliferates.

Individual Mental Health Stigma

Individualized stigma is when people suffering from mental illness take the comments, attitudes, and behaviors caused by societal stigma to heart.

This means that they start believing in these harmful stereotypes and think that they apply to them. Using the above example, the senior might start believing that they're weak, incapable, or dangerous.

After internalizing this attitude, they're unlikely to do the things they need to do to effectively recover, such as booking an appointment with their physician.

Because of the stigmatized attitude, they think that they should be able to deal with it on their own, and they might feel ashamed or guilty.

Organizational Mental Health Stigma

The final type is the organizational mental health stigma type. This is when an institution, like a school or workplace, has a stigmatized attitude towards mental health ingrained in the culture.

For example, there are systemic barriers within healthcare that make it challenging for seniors to access care or resources. Not only can there be discriminatory practices, but there can also be inadequate funding for mental health services or a lack of specialized programs for older adults.

According to the World Health Organization, mental illness should be taken just as seriously as any other illness. But since organizations rely on established routines and regulations, a stigmatizing organizational culture can be quite hard to change.

Targeting such stigma requires a top-down approach from management that understands the nature of mental health stigma.

The Consequences of Mental Health Stigma

So, what are the consequences of mental health stigma for seniors, and do they matter? Here are some of the most common negative outcomes from stigmatizing mental health conditions:

• Lower self-esteem: When you're constantly hearing negative things about yourself, it can lower your self-esteem and make you feel less confident.
• Worse healthcare outcomes: Mental health stigma causes worse healthcare outcomes by discouraging people from talking to their physicians about their mental struggles.
• Worse mental health: The stigma surrounding depression and anxiety can actually make these conditions worse and can even cause depression and anxiety in those who didn't have it initially.
• Further spread: People who internalize mental health stigma not only accept it, but they also contribute to spreading it throughout society and organizations.
• Poor communication: Mental health stigma makes it much harder to talk with friends and family members about what's going on; either you don't feel comfortable speaking, or you don't have the knowledge to properly discuss the topic.

Only through the combined efforts of families, healthcare institutions, and senior communities can we beat mental health stigma and create a positive environment for local seniors with sufficient behavioral wellness support.

Assisted Living Awareness: Reducing Stigma in Senior Care

Mental health stigma is a serious problem because these biased and false viewpoints can discourage people from getting help, discourage them from discussing their problem with friends and family, and make people who are suffering feel worse about themselves. Tackling mental health stigma takes group effort, as individuals can't overcome it alone.

Here at The Peaks at Old Laramie Trail, our strong sense of community bonds and positive mental health attitude help us provide good emotional care for aging adults. Mental health is always at the forefront of our approach at our pet-friendly assisted living community. If you're interested in seeing what this looks like, contact us today, and let's set up a tour.