Stigma in the educational field

The educational field is one of the most important in the construction of any society, but mental health continues to be a pending issue in classrooms, where it is necessary to promote a vision of mental health free of stigmas .

Educational centers are key agents in the implementation of programs that integrate a stigma-free vision of mental health in a cross-cutting manner, promoting that children, adolescents and young people can speak and ask for help when they need it.

Seventy-five percent of mental disorders begin in adolescence, before the age of 18, yet some people with mental health problems continue to face discrimination in schools from teachers and classmates. The most common discriminatory behaviors include avoidance or rejection, overprotection or control, teasing, belittling, or ridicule for behaving differently.

To eliminate the taboos and prejudices that exist about mental health, the first thing to do is to talk about mental health in a normalized and everyday way.

Programs to combat stigma in educational institutions should follow a strategy focused on:

• Prevent stigma and discrimination in mental health at the earliest possible age.
• To encourage young people to seek help, as a tool to prevent the development or chronicity of mental health problems.
• To improve young people's attitudes and behaviors regarding mental health issues.
• Involving the educational community (mothers, fathers, guardians, youth associations and educational centers) in the fight against the stigma and discrimination of people with mental health problems.
• Improving the resilience of young people.

Let's talk about mental health in the classroom

To eliminate the taboos and prejudices surrounding mental health, the first step is to talk about it in a normalized and everyday way. How?

• Remember that mental health problems are not something strange and isolated, but are more common than they seem.
• Generating empathy towards people who have a mental health problem.
• Facilitating students' firsthand experience of people with a diagnosis and collaborating with local mental health organizations.
• Respecting and encouraging those students who want to speak publicly about their mental health and recognizing their courage in front of the group.
• Giving space to the emotions that may arise in class from the students.

How to avoid falling into stigma when addressing mental health in the classroom?

• Avoid associating mental health disorders with violence.
• Do not confuse mental health disorders with intellectual disability.
• Do not use the disorder as the main characteristic of the person (the person has a disorder, they are not that disorder).
• Avoid generalizing, as each person has their own unique characteristics.
• Do not associate mental health disorder with eccentricity, which can be a source of ridicule.
• Do not attribute falsely positive qualities to the disorder, such as genius or artistic ability, for example.