What is stigma & discrimination?
Stigma
Stigma is a mark or sign of shame, disgrace or disapproval, of being shunned or rejected by others. Stigma can often lead to discrimination.
Discrimination
Discrimination occurs when a person is treated differently from another person in the same or similar circumstances based on past, present, associated or assumed characteristics. It can be:
- Direct or indirect
- Positive or negative
- Lawful or unlawful.
The Human Rights Act
The Human Rights Act 1993 protects people in New Zealand from unfair discrimination. Section 21 prohibits discrimination on the grounds of:
- Age, colour, disability (including ‘mental illness'), employment status, ethical belief, ethnic or national origins, family status, marital status, political opinion, race, religious belief, sex (includes childbirth and pregnancy), sexual orientation.
And in the areas of: - Access to public places/vehicles/facilities, education, employment, industrial and professional associations, qualifying bodies, vocational training bodies, partnerships, provision of goods and services, land, housing and accommodation.
VIBE challenges the myths
Here are some strategies to counter those phrases, like: "You're always gonna be sick" and "You're weird".
- Madness is a sane reaction to an insane world
- I'm a person not an illness
- Everyone's experienced hard times at some point
- I'm gifted, I never was sick, it's just the world could not accept me for who I am and the world would rather change me than change itself
- Mental distress is brought on by many things including trauma and society's inability to nurture and care for the young. Mental distress is not a sign of weakness, it is a part of life for many people
- Learn better words
- Nah... I'm just creative
- People are strange when you're a stranger
- People experiencing mental distress can get through it
- Prove I'm always gonna be sick, I've already proved you wrong, just by having studied and living independently in my flat
- 80% of people hear voices at some point in their lives... that's a majority, not weird
- There is more to me than my ‘illness'
- We have the same needs as everyone else
- We are human
- Everyone has their own foibles and special needs
- It's not weird to be affected by difficult times or bad experiences, lots of ‘mental illness' is connected with our histories
- Everyone's different
- Unique is not weird.
