(Valerie A. Lapointe, Nessa Ghassemi-Bakhtiari/ The Conversation) — Many people struggle with mental illness — in any given year, one in five people in Canada experience a mental health problem or illness — but it is still heavily stigmatized. This seems to happen because of three things: the creation of stereotypes, the internalization of prejudices and acts of discrimination.
A stereotype is a mental shortcut we use to categorize individuals. When stereotypes are integrated into the way we think, they are often used to judge or evaluate people.
That’s what we call prejudice. And discrimination stems from these two processes and is generally expressed through behaviours (like refusing to help someone in need because they seem to be mentally unstable). (…)