Professor examines mental illness stigma

Stigma is everywhere in professor Bernice Pescosolido’s office.
 
It’s written on the covers of her books and in the abstracts of her papers. Ask her about stigma, and she will likely tell a story about a graduate student who tried to win a scholarship for students with disabilities.

“She had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder early in her life,” Pescosolido said. “Under the ADA (American Disabilities Act of 1990), that’s a disability. I made some inquiries into whether it would be a good idea she apply for a dissertation grant under this announcement. They said, ‘she could, but we wouldn’t recommend it.’”

The scholarship representatives didn’t recommend it because of stigma associated with mental illness, Pescosolido said, which encompasses the stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination suffered by those who experience mental illness.

They were worried she would be discriminated against.

“I think the people who said this were people who were very aware of the stigma of mental illness,” she said. “They were concerned with the best interest of the student. They were trying to protect the student’s future because of the stigma.”

She said because of stigma, people who experience mental illness may be seen as incompetent, childish or dangerous.

Pescosolido is a distinguished professor of sociology at IU, director of the Indiana Consortium for Mental Health Services Research and an expert about stigma.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one of every three college students experiences mental illness, which includes depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Pescosolido said mental illness creates a catch-22 that for many students makes treatment difficult. To challenge stigma, students must disclose what they’re experiencing. But disclosure means they will be stigmatized, which makes treatment-seeking problematic.

Mental illness can cause hallucinations, depression and panic attacks, said Jill Bolte Taylor, president of the Bloomington branch of the National Alliance of Mental Illness.
She said the effects of stigma exacerbate these symptoms.

“They are ashamed or not educated about what mental illness is,” Taylor said. “As a result, they don’t reach out for help, and the pain and illness becomes more complicated.”

Pescosolido said disclosure challenges stigma because when people come into contact with individuals who experience mental illness, stigma is greatly
reduced.

She said inclusion is when individuals are accepted into groups like families or workplaces.

“What we haven’t seen is a decrease in stigma attached to inclusion,” Pescosolido said. “That might be the last bastion of intolerance.”

But if students wanted to inform instructors when experiences with mental illness hurt their performance, she said she would tell them to be careful disclosing the truth. Faculty members aren’t always more tolerant than others, she said.

“The universe of faculty is as the universe of society,” Pescosolido said.

Though faculty members might not understand students’ experiences with mental illness, there are helpful resources available, IU Director of Counseling and Psychological Services Nancy Stockton said.

“We would talk with the student if they have an onset of depression that’s impacting their studies,” Stockton said. “We might write a letter that informs their faculty, but ultimately the decision is up to the student.”

IU’s Mental Health Working Group is dedicated to providing mental health resources and support to graduate students, as well as learning about graduate students’ mental health, founder and IU doctoral student Rachel La Touche said.

She said graduate students don’t have enough access to information about resources, so mental health issues get worse while they’re learning about how to access care. She also said distinctive pressures of graduate school, like working closely with rivals and potential employers, cause students to avoid seeking treatment.

If an IU student does disclose and wants instructors to change their expectations accordingly, there’s a bureaucratic process involved, she said.

“You can’t just say to an instructor ‘I’m experiencing extreme anxiety, and it’s influencing my performance,’” La Touche said. “You need to go to disability services. There’s a program in place for individuals who need to be tested and have recommendations proposed to their instructors. That’s the only way.”

Individuals must disclose to others when seeking treatment at IU, Stockton said.
Meanwhile, they might have to wait several weeks before an appointment.

“They might want to wait a while,” she said.

Taylor said students should demand a change, adding there must be increased support, education and advocacy at IU in order to reduce stigma and expedite the treatment process.

“I know it is very difficult to get seen by a psychiatrist at IU,” Taylor said.

Taylor said it might help if there were a student organization that addressed the issue.

Several years ago, Pescosolido said, students tried to form a group dedicated to reducing mental illness stigma, but it dissolved.

Streamlining the treatment process might help reduce stigma, though, Pescosolido said.

“If they find a cure, or if they find something that makes it incredibly manageable in an effective way, stigma tends to go down,” she said.