Stigma and Discrimination
The March 2005 Article of the Month focuses on the stigma of
mental illness and resulting discrimination against children who are perceived
as “weird.” The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA) of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services has a special
focus on addressing stigma and discrimination. The Resource
Center to Address Discrimination and Stigma (ADS Center) http://www.stopstigma.samhsa.gov/
has numerous resources that assist in addressing this issue. This web site has
a section on Children http://www.stopstigma.samhsa.gov/topics_materials/children.htm
that provides numerous resources for public school personnel, including:
Brochures and Fact Sheets http://www.stopstigma.samhsa.gov/topics_materials/k-brochures.htm
(You can download many of them.)
Books, Articles, and Research http://www.stopstigma.samhsa.gov/topics_materials/k-books.htm
Resource Organizations http://www.stopstigma.samhsa.gov/topics_materials/k-orgs.htm
North Carolina is one of the eight states in the nation
participating in SAMHSA’s Elimination of Barriers Initiative (EBI) http://allmentalhealth.samhsa.gov/.
The North Carolina EBI http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/mhddsas/ebi.htm
is a joint effort of the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities
and Substance Services in the Department of Health and Human Services and the
Department of Public Instruction. The project is involved in developing and sending out
public service announcements on TV and radio and newspaper articles to media outlets
throughout the state. In a second part of the project, several high schools
across the state have volunteered to take part in training about people with
mental illnesses with the goal of decreasing stigma and the resulting
discrimination against students and school personnel. Lessons learned will be
applied to broader campaigns after this pilot project is over.