Thoughts on overcoming the stigma of psychological pain, by HilaryN

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This page contains the thoughts and opinions of wiki member HilaryN123 and is controlled by her. The editorial standards that apply to the rest of the wiki aren't enforced on this page, but other guidelines and rules apply.


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HilaryN

I think it's worth outlining the barriers we are facing (not because I want to be negative, but because by knowing what the barriers are, we can tackle the job of dismantling them):

1) Most people believe that physical conditions have a physical cause (I'm stating the obvious here, we all know that barrier)

  1. (Here in the UK at least, and I suspect in US too) There's an implication that if pain is psychological, it's imaginary / not real... and more importantly (in terms of resistance to the concept) this has implications that one is a malingerer. (Sarno talks about secondary gain.) One has made up the pain to get out of things one doesn't want to do. To avoid one's duty. Because one is a lazy person. Probably a whole host of other negative and judgemental implications. In other words “psychological” means “BAD” in a lot of people's minds.
  1. This brings me on to another related subject. Mental illness here in the UK has a huge stigma attached to it. MIND (the mental health organisation) has campaigned to remove this stigma. In fact on the Tube (subway) last night I saw an advert for a current campaign:
http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/what-were-doing/our-campaign/peoples-stories/stephens-story

It would be interesting to have a look around this website (I haven't had time yet), maybe observe and apply to our campaign, maybe get involved with their campaign, maybe join the two up.

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