When it comes to matters of health,
Do you ever stop to think about stigma?
How well do you know “stigma”?
How about “stigma as a public health issue”?
Photo credit: Behavioural Health News
Oxford Languages describes stigma as “a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.”
We often see and hear people mention the phrase “public health”.
I always wonder what it truly means.
Photo credit: TN.gov
The CDC Foundation describes public health as “the science of protecting and improving the health of people and their communities”.
This work is achieved by promoting healthy lifestyles, researching disease and injury prevention, and detecting, preventing, and responding to infectious diseases.
Photo credit: TN.gov
Now, put those two phrases together and we have a horrible recipe.
Let’s look back at the earlier days of COVID19; whoever had contracted the virus was shied away from by many other people.
Was it because they were sick or was it because they were afraid of contracting the virus themselves?
Photo credit: UNICEF
In the earlier days of HIV/AIDS,
Whoever had contracted this virus or had stigmata of Kaposi sarcoma on their bodies was to be stayed away from, at all costs!
Was that because they were sick or was it because they were afraid of contracting the virus themselves?
Photo credit: John Hopkins Center for Communication Programs
Let us look at alcoholism.
How many of us can freely mix and mingle with people they know and see suffering from this disease?
Is that because they are forced to, by other circumstances or is it a must for them to be seen together, just for the likes and approval-ratings?
Photo credit: CROSSIP
Do we ever to stop to think about the power of our words and looks, on other people?
What if we truly fought together, the spirit of stigma in our communities and systems?
Would not we make “stigma as a public health issue” something of the past?
This is a very informative pos, I honestly don’t know much about Stigma thanks for educating me
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It’s so true. We really need to follow our own instincts and values when taking care of ourselves and our health. It’s really no one else’s business.
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It’s always sad to see any negative stereotypes, we really need to work on accepting each other more. Great blog post, I really enjoyed reading this.
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Stigma is one of the biggest issues we’re currently facing, causing many people to avoid seeking help or reaching out to others. I should know, for a long time I was one of them!
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Your article on the public health impact of stigma is insightful and thought-provoking. You effectively highlighted the negative effects of stigma on individuals and communities and provided actionable steps towards combating it.
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Stigma is real
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I hate that theres still a stigma around mental health. I do think its getting better
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Words are indeed powerful. We can hurt people and or crush them with just words thats whay we need to always choose our words wisely.
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Its sad that we still have these stigma in our society. It saddens me to think that these structural in society still exist because they can create barriers for persons with a mental or behavioral disorder.
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As someone who works in the healthcare industry, I appreciate this blogpost shedding light on the issue of stigma in public health. It’s so important to address the negative attitudes and beliefs that can prevent individuals from seeking the care and support they need.
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Lol
Great article and I completely agree. It’s definitely an issue
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You so right. But I do think that there is an ever-growing focus on fighting stigma…so even though it might be a slow go, I do think it’s changing!
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I don’t remember any warnings about staying near HIV/AIDS people during its early days. All I know was that people were afraid of people with AIDS because they didn’t know how you may contract it.
😩🙏🏽 those notices were very common here in Uganda.
Once again you have made me think – that is why I enjoy coming to this site! There are so many health issues that we apply stigmas to – the one closest to my heart is suicide due to depression or other mental issues. So often I hear “it was selfish of him/her to take his/her life” – the same person would not think one selfish if someone a broken arm or cancer? What is the difference?
🤔👍 that’s a very good question, right there!
I know a lot about HIV and AIDs but not about stigma. I just know little bit about but this was very informative read.
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COVID stigma was so real. People would ostracise the patient and their family for months. Homosexuality is another stigma word that evokes an atrocious response.
Ohhh yyeeeaaahhhhh, it was such a scary time!
COVID stigma was so real. People would ostracise the patient and their family for months. Homosexuality is another stigma word that evokes an atrocious response. PLEASE TRY
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Words are indeed powerful. We can hurt people and or crush them with just words thats whay we need to always choose our words wisely.
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This post really shows me how bad stigma leads to public health issue.
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