{"id":4305,"date":"2017-06-16T08:48:37","date_gmt":"2017-06-16T08:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dementes.programate.pe\/?p=4305"},"modified":"2026-07-09T20:57:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T20:57:28","slug":"seis-maneras-de-combatir-el-estigma-hacia-la-salud-mental","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.dementes.org.pe\/en\/2017\/06\/16\/seis-maneras-de-combatir-el-estigma-hacia-la-salud-mental\/","title":{"rendered":"Six ways to combat mental health stigma"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mental health is key to the well-being of every individual<\/strong><\/span> and, therefore, constitutes a fundamental element for development at the local, national, and global levels. However, it is no secret that it continues to occupy a marginalized position within public health systems, despite its importance.<\/p>\n

At De-mentes, we are convinced that the stigma<\/strong> surrounding mental health<\/strong> contributes significantly to this situation of marginalization<\/strong><\/span>. This stigma labels people with mental health conditions as violent or unstable, among other erroneous and negative prejudices; this limits the capacities for prevention and promotion of mental health in our country, as well as the social and labor inclusion of individuals with mental health conditions.<\/p>\n

For this reason, our organization is dedicated to fighting against stigma in order to change this reality<\/span>. <\/strong>To assist us in this mission, a few days ago we asked our community on Facebook<\/a><\/span> and Twitter<\/a><\/span> what they consider the best way to combat stigma toward mental health<\/span><\/strong>. Below, we present a summary of the contributions we received.<\/p>\n

1. Speaking openly about mental health<\/span>:<\/strong> Most opinions agreed on the importance of generating increasingly open conversations about mental health, where we can all share our stories freely and without fear of prejudice and\/or discrimination.<\/p>\n

\u00abSharing stories and speaking freely about our mental health with our family, friends, and colleagues at work\u00bb<\/em> \u2013 Marcia Fern\u00e1ndez<\/p>\n

\u00abShowing real stories that demonstrate how sensitive and important it is to talk about this issue\u00bb<\/em> \u2013 Miguel Rojas Cuadros<\/p>\n

\u00abDiscussing the topic and bringing people closer to the situation\u00bb<\/em> \u2013 R Lizbeth L Vera<\/p>\n

2. Educating ourselves and staying informed about mental health<\/strong><\/span>: Many agreed on the importance of educating about mental health from childhood onward, in order to bring society closer to the topic and gradually eliminate the taboos associated with mental illness.<\/p>\n

\u00abTreating it as an important issue within schools. Many children do not know about this or do not know how to recognize the different illnesses a person may have; it is complicated to know how to act in such situations if you are unfamiliar with the topic. It would be great if talks for families and parents were also held at school to learn how to address this issue with their children\u00bb<\/em> \u2013 Carolina Arauco Lugo<\/p>\n

\u00abThroughout my entire educational life, including university, I never received education on mental health. I believe it would be important for it to be taught in schools, academies, institutes, and universities, whether through campaigns or through a course, whether in biology or psychology\u00bb<\/em> \u2013 Luz Paola Yauri Bellido<\/p>\n

3. Urging the media to change their language when addressing mental health<\/strong><\/span>: It is a priority for the media to correct their language when approaching mental health issues or presenting news involving people with mental health conditions. Unfortunately, stigma is often fueled by these media outlets, rather than them functioning as a source of information and education on the subject.<\/p>\n

\u00abBeginning to use correct language in the media. Perhaps producing special features on the topic\u00bb<\/em> \u2013 Fiorella Ar\u00edzaga<\/p>\n

4. Being empathetic and learning to listen to and understand what we do not know<\/span><\/strong>: It is very important to put ourselves in the other person's shoes and begin to listen with more empathetic and understanding ears to what we do not know. To understand that coping with a mental health issue can be just as difficult as, or even more difficult than, coping with a physical illness.<\/p>\n

\u00abStarting to talk and understand without fear!\u00bb<\/em> \u2013 Daniela Kisner Gylling<\/p>\n

\u00abDiscussing it within our circles and practicing \u00bb<\/em> \u2013 Marjorie Reymundo Conde<\/p>\n

\u00abSpeaking openly about mental health and being empathetic\u00bb<\/em> \u2013 Luis Ramos Del Castillo<\/p>\n

5. Being mindful of our language and that of our social environment<\/span><\/strong>: It is important to become aware of the terms we use in our daily lives, as we may be contributing to stigma. Likewise, correcting people in our social environment and urging them to use appropriate terms when speaking about mental health and about individuals with conditions related to it.<\/p>\n

\u00abBecoming indignant with every improper term used, whether within our social environment or in the media. Making evident that mental health is as important as physical health and that illnesses related to it are also difficult to cope with\u00bb<\/em> \u2013 Lucero Andaluz Llerena<\/p>\n

6. Empowering<\/b><\/span> those who have a mental health condition<\/span><\/strong>: It is of utmost relevance to work toward providing opportunities for personal and professional development to people with mental health conditions, so that stigma does not constitute an obstacle to living a full life and participating in our society as active citizens.<\/p>\n

\u00abEmpowering those who suffer from this social problem\u00bb<\/em> \u2013 Renato Lopez<\/p>\n

Stigma toward mental health is a social issue that brings with it many limitations for millions of people worldwide. It is important that we join forces and that more and more of us fight day by day for an inclusive, empowered, participatory, and stigma-free society,<\/strong><\/span> where mental health is positioned as one of the priorities on both the national and global agendas.<\/p>\n

#EveryoneForMentalHealth<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Le consultamos a nuestra comunidad de Facebook y Twitter cu\u00e1l es la mejor manera de combatir el estigma hacia la salud mental. Aqu\u00ed les presentamos un resumen de los aportes que recibimos.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[23],"class_list":["post-4305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-articulos-noticias"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.dementes.org.pe\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.dementes.org.pe\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.dementes.org.pe\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.dementes.org.pe\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.dementes.org.pe\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4305"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/staging.dementes.org.pe\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6670,"href":"https:\/\/staging.dementes.org.pe\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4305\/revisions\/6670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.dementes.org.pe\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.dementes.org.pe\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.dementes.org.pe\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.dementes.org.pe\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}