Stigma in mental illness is the shunning and scapegoating of people with mental illness for a condition that society considers shameful, and the belief that people with mental illness, or their families, are to blame for their condition. [National Alliance on Mental Illness Family to Family class materials]

Stigmatization and misunderstanding of mental illness has created much havoc and ripped apart families. Until it’s eradicated, the long, slow mountainous climb to legal parity and quality of life for the mentally ill will never end.

Mental illness is not a rare disease; studies show that about 1 in 5 people in the U.S. population live with a mental health challenge. So many people who live with mental illness don’t understand or deny what’s happening to them, leading to self-medication with drugs and alcohol, homelessness and feelings of hopelessness.

People who live with mental illness who are stable and lead full lives are many times afraid to let their employers know. Unlike people with other medical problems, they feel that there will be no support within the workplace should a crisis hit.

What are the reasons for such archaic attitudes? Misunderstanding and fear of the unknown, lack of education about mental illness, outdated terminologies, cruel epithets, insensitive jokes and a media that is uninformed and careless. Any crime becomes sensationalized if it involves a person who may have a mental illness.

People with mental illness are far less likely to commit a major crime than the criminally inclined. When it does happen, the blame should rest squarely on a community that fails to help people in crisis.

In North Carolina, many agencies are collaborating in order to be able to get better help to mentally ill people in need, but much more is needed. Several state psychiatric hospitals have closed their doors or decreased in size to the point where jails are now the new psychiatric treatment facilities. What other medical health issue causes you to be jailed when what you really need is medical treatment?

Funding for mental health has decreased in North Carolina for the past three years and there are more cuts to come. The motto here seems to be “Do a lot more with a lot less.” This helps no one, not the patients desperately seeking help or the mental healthcare providers whose staff are overworked and understaffed.

Jails and prisons receive people with mental health issues, but they are not equipped to handle mental healthcare. Consequently, people with mental illness may stay longer in jail than others without mental health issues. This creates a problem for taxpayers: jails and prisons are far more expensive than adequate treatment of the mentally ill.

What we should be doing is creating ways to attract more mental healthcare providers to North Carolina.

It’s time for change and for misconceptions about mental illness to be laid to rest.

Adrienne Brady is the president of National Alliance on Mental Illness, Four Seasons Affiliate, Henderson and Polk Counties.