Understanding the Stigma of Mental and Substance use Disorders 

Behavioral Health [WLOs: 1, 2, 3] [CLOs: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7]

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read Chapters 8 and 10 of the course textbook, Understanding the Stigma of Mental and Substance use Disorders (Links to an external site.), Shaming the Sick: Addiction and Stigma (Links to an external site.), and Words Matter: How Language Choice Can Reduce Stigma (Links to an external site.). In addition, watch the Ending the Stigma of Mental Illness (Links to an external site.) video, and review this week’s Instructor Guidance.

For this discussion, find a current event (e.g., story from a television show, news report, or social media, etc.) related to one of the topics below.

• Mental health disorder (e.g., Autism, ADD/ADHD, Depression, Bipolar, Anxiety, PTSD, Schizophrenia, etc.).
• Substance use disorder (e.g., alcohol, prescription medications, street drugs, etc.).

In your discussion post,

• Share the link to the current event at the top of your post (Note: it MUST be a link your classmates can open and view).
• Summarize the current event; include the wording used by the author to describe the mental or substance use disorder.
• Discuss the back story of the person(s) involved in the event (e.g., medical history, life-altering event, trauma, etc.) as described by the source.
• Discuss any social, physical, and/or psychological behaviors that are normally associated with the disorder described; include any unique life stressors (e.g., relationships, employment, housing, life event, etc.) that may have contributed to the event.
• Prepare an APA-formatted reference at the end of your initial discussion post for the source.

Guided Response: Respond to two classmates. Review the current event shared in their post.

• In your opinion, discuss associated social stigmas (bias and shame), whether real or perceived, that might have perpetuated the event.
• Share your thoughts as to what might have prevented the escalation of the event (e.g., treatment programs, changes in environment, medical assistance, support system, legislation, etc.).
• Your response should be a minimum of 100 words.