Around 8.6 million or 2 in 5 Australians between the ages of 16-85 have reported suffering from some form of mental illness throughout their life In the past 12 months, 4.2 million Australians have reported having experienced a mental health disorder. It’s been no secret that people with mental health disorders around the world have felt stigmatised. However, with a deeper awareness of mental illness in Australia over the past decade, has the stigma around mental health decreased or increased?

Ben, 32 was diagnosed with clinical depression when he was 29 years old. He had been suffering from symptoms on and off for two years before his diagnosis.

“Honestly, I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders when my doctor diagnosed me. I felt a relief to finally have a proper answer. But then I started worrying if others around me would judge me. I guess, as a young male, my friends and I weren’t overly open about our emotions and feelings. I wondered at the time if I should even tell them about my diagnosis,” said Ben.

Ben isn’t alone. According to the Mental Health Council of Australia, 85% of Australians with mental illness were worried about how they would be perceived by other people.

Briony, a psychologist from a private clinic in Sydney’s inner west thinks that people need to be more informed about mental illnesses and that mental health awareness campaigns aren’t cutting it.

“Even though there has been a greater emphasis in the past decade on how Aussies should have a deeper understanding of mental health in Australia, it isn’t being done in the right way. In my opinion, mental health awareness campaigns don’t work. They may become a slogan in someone’s mind, but we aren’t going deeper and we aren’t providing people with enough ‘call to actions’, which in turn, doesn’t help decrease stigma around mental health” said Briony.

Mental health stigma can look like patients being refused employment, housing, education and more based on the fact that they have a mental illness. Not only does this make people feel discluded, but it also drives the narrative about harmful misconceptions about mental health.

Cameron Solnordal, SANE Director and Peer Ambassador described the dangers of mental health stigma:

“When I was given my diagnosis, it was stigma that told me I was never going to have a home, have a job, have a family, have a life. It took me 15 years to realise that was all completely wrong… Stigma is a weapon that keeps people apart, and I don’t want to be apart anymore”.

Briony believes that the Australian media plays a big role in how mental health is perceived.

“Mental health gets a bad rap through the media. There are lots of TV shows and films where characters who are mentally ill are portrayed inaccurately and mental health disorders are wildly exaggerated. This sticks in people’s minds and for a lot of people, this is their only reference for what mental illness looks like” Briony said.

On the contrary, the global 2022 Lancet Commission on ending stigma and discrimination in mental health actually found that positive media stories were doing the opposite and not only increasing people’s awareness about mental health but also assisting in decreasing stigma. The Lancet Commission suggested that this isn’t a widespread practice, but it should be.

Ben ended up telling his friends about his diagnosis and while the majority of them responded with empathy and care, a couple of friends had a different attitude.

“I was really happy with the overall support I received. But I did have two mates who made comments like, ‘Oh come on mate, surely you’ll snap out of it soon’ and ‘So what are you now a crazy person?’. Those comments hurt, but I know it comes from a place of ignorance and a lack of awareness”.

“We have made a shift in the right direction when it comes to mental health stigma, but we still have a long way to go. More government funding for mental health is needed and I believe that much more education around the topic needs to be incorporated into the Australian school curriculum. Mental health itself doesn’t discriminate and it can happen to anyone. If children are aware and educated from a younger age, I feel like the stigma around it will decrease as it becomes more of the norm” said Briony.