It also provides them with the confidence and independence they need to reach their goals. As the coordinator and a counselor at Ephraim McDowell Behavioral Health Outpatient Services, Turner helps people deal with a variety of mental health issues. Unfortunately, some individuals remain reluctant to discuss behavioral health treatment or counseling. During May, which is being observed as National Mental Health Month, the Behavioral Health Outpatient Services program hopes to help erase the stigma of mental illness. Many people don t get help because of the stigma that is sometimes attached to mental illness, Turner said.
Some people don t see mental illness as an identifiable problem that can be treated.
Many times, individuals will mask the symptoms of mental illness with physical symptoms in order to rationalize the unexplainable way they are feeling. A couple of old adages would allow people to believe that they should be able to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and that seeking help is a sign of weakness. However, both of these ideas are just not true. Most of the stigma associated with mental illness is related to the way individuals with mental illness were treated decades ago. In the past, mental health patients were sometimes sent to institutions in which they were subjected to deplorable conditions.