The Carter Center's Goal to Reduce Stigma

Have you ever called yourself an alcoholic after a night out with your college buddies? Chances are, you are not an alcoholic, but you said so as if to say that one night of drinking constitutes alcoholism. This is one way that stigmas get inserted into our everyday actions.

Rebecca Palpant, Assistant Director of the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism at the Carter Center, is one of the many devoted who is trying to kick the habit of stigmatizing mental illnesses in the press.

Stigma has a great impact on people with mental illnesses. Stigma can get in the way of a persons public persona, place of employment and even their access to mental health services.

The Carter Center, founded by Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn, is a two-pronged organization that seeks to both prevent and resolve human rights issues, and improve mental health.

“The Carter Center is unique, because it is headed by Mrs. Carter,” said Palpant. “Its focus on public policy and stigma reduction is aimed at changing the way illness is understood.”

Palpant said that there is too much sensationalizing of mental illnesses in the media. “It is important to talk about stigma. Because the stigmas that have been created about people with mental illness, lead people to avoid getting help out of discrimination.”

If a person is known to have a mental illness, it may affect their ability to get a job, find appropriate housing, public funding, and even insurance. This is why stigmas need to be talked about, because they affect the way that people see mental illness.

Not only does stigma need to be talked about. It is another goal of the Carter Center to change policies regarding mental health issues and to increase the access to services.

“We are looking for real ways to make life better for people,” said Palpant.

The Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism is given to professional journalists who have had at least three years of experience and who have built a network suitable for writing about mental health issues.

Posted By: Torey Darin