The Influence of Stigma on Mental Illness in Developing and the Developed Countries

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Furthermore, based on WHO (World Health Organization) study conducted on comparison between developing and the developed countries, the results have confirmed the better outcome of mental illness, particularly schizophrenia, in developing than in the developed countries (World Health Organization, 1973). Prognosis of schizophrenia in the developed and developing countries largely varies where for instance the remissions are latter, shorter, fewer complete (42.8%), and more associated to disability in the developed countries, while sooner, longer, more complete (75.0%) and less associated to disability (Rosen, 2003). The factors influencing better outcomes of mental illnesses in developing countries are frequently associated with the greater social involvement of individuals suffering from mental illness, as well as the families being involved through the process of remission and healing which corresponds to the basic aspect of collectivistic societies as explained above in the text (Rosen, 2003). Furthermore, schizophrenia in the industrialized areas is understood as the mental illness resistant to those factors corresponding to the typical cultural abundance and actions such as religious beliefs and practices, history, traditions and so on. Take for instance the U.S. where mentally ill individuals were completely isolated from societies as they believed that people suffering from schizophrenia are extremely dangerous (Appendix 14C, 2007). On the other hand, developing countries are tempting to keep mentally ill individuals within societies due to belief that the acceptance can help them overcome and/or successfully monitor their illnesses (Rosen, 2003). Mentally ill individuals in developing countries are as well more likely to have a partner which contributes to the prevention of stigma as individual will not feel completely excluded from the rest of the society (Jenkins & Barrett, 2004). On the other hand, in the developed countries the social exclusion of mentally ill individuals is common even though it is considered to be the main factor causing stress which leads towards deterioration of their condition. The impact of stigma on mentally ill individuals in the developed vs. developing countries is also evident through the number of individuals seeking the treatment. As the impact of stigma is lower, the fear and refusal of seeking help and the treatment is also lower. According to McGruder’s research conducted on families in Zanziba, an individual suffering from schizophrenia, as well as his/her family, will adopt the traditional and religious belief of individual’s body and mind being possessed by the evil spirit, rather than adopting to a permanent condition of schizophrenia. In such way Zanziba societies regulate an impact of stigma on individual’s life and reduce the burden of shame by making his/her mental illness just a temporary condition (McGruder, 2004). This is just one of many examples of how developing countries cope with lowering and preventing an impact of stigma on mentally ill individuals.

Based on the course and the outcome of the mental illness, it is evident that the developed countries can learn a lot from developing countries in preventing the negative impacts of stigma on mental illnesses. Segregating and/or isolating mentally ill individuals cannot and will not erase and cure their mental illness, but instead will contribute to its worsening and create even greater stigma. On the other hand, the social acceptance and support of mentally ill individuals will help them regain their feeling of belonging, thus contribute in monitoring their mental illness, as well as prevent the further development of symptoms. The developed/individualistic countries could decrease or lower an influence of stigma by reconstructing their societies and putting more emphasis on “we” instead on “I”, which could be achieved through the kinship extension in order to create the feeling of support, belonging, caring, etc. Furthermore, according to Rosen’s research the developed countries: “can learn that psychiatric stigma is not fixed, indelible or universal, but is culturally applied, sometimes as an artefact of colonization” (Rosen, 2003, p.94). In other words, the stigma of mental illness is not unchangeable, thus should become of a greater concern for the society we live in as it is harmfully affecting the great amount of the worlds’ population. No society should build a walls of separation between mentally ill individuals and the rest of the population as it may lead to a greater social discomfort. All these factors are influencing an improvement of mental health, as well as the lowering of stigma associated with mental illness.

Even though the biological determination is considered to be the most crucial and the most accurate when defining, understanding, and diagnosing the mental illness, the cultural understanding of mental illness and the correspondence to it is highly influencing its course and its outcome. Discrimination, exclusion, and rejection of mentally ill individuals from societies they were born in, they live in, and they have already built their lives in, is just one of the many missteps in treating and preventing the negative outcomes of mental illness and stigma associated with it. However, according to researches, majority of non-Western countries developed their own perspectives, practices, beliefs, and strategies on how to communally resolve social issues of mental illness and the stigma that accompanies it, thus the course and the outcome of stigma of mental illness in developing countries is proven to be better than in the developed ones. As a society that is already industrialized, thus possesses higher capability and the knowledge of producing the social comfort, the developed countries have to come out from their comfort zone and follow the steps of developing countries when trying to lower an impact of stigma on the lives of mentally ill individuals. The developed countries should expand their views and break the stereotypes if wanting to prevent and minimize an impact of stigma on mental illness. The large scale of stigmatization of mental illness has to be cut down in those countries if wanting to establish and maintain social equality among people. Both, western and non-western countries have to be aware of the fact that we are the society we live in, thus we can influence and control its change, the same way the society can influence and control the change of us.

Bibliography:

Appendix 14C. (2007). Perspectives on the Historical Treatment of People with Disabilities. Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice. 2nd Ed. Routledge, 2007.

Barret, J. Robert. Jenkins, H. Janis. (2004). Schizophrenia, Culture, and Subjectivity: The Edge of Experience.