What Is Stigma in Mental Health? A Guide for Knoxville Seniors
With over 10% of seniors living with mental health issues (World Health Organization, 2023), there should be a greater number of people seeking help. Sadly, even in the beautiful Deane Hill Place, in Knoxville, surrounded by the area's greenery and water features, some people are not comfortable asking for assistance. Many older adults will have grown up in a time when the question of "What is stigma in mental health?" would not have been asked, and emotion was not welcomed.
So, how can they overcome this to get additional assistance?
Below, we dig into how this hidden shame and self-imposed stigma can increase the isolation of a senior loved one and undermine their well-being. Discover how assisted living can help, and learn practical methods for opening up such a discussion with a loved one to reduce their sense of loneliness and fear of talking about such things.
What Is Stigma in Mental Health?
According to Teo et al. (2023), the truth is that social isolation impacts around a quarter of older adults, and for many of them, this is an indirect impact of the mental health issues they face.
Mental health stigma is a social issue that involves individuals being labeled with words like "weak" or "crazy", especially when they share their feelings. This is why aging and mental health often go hand in hand.
Even if a senior individual has the best intentions, a long legacy of negative attitudes towards mental health conditions can mean people feel shame even asking for help, even from those who would be more open to discussing it.
These symptoms then stay hidden or flare up during stressful situations, leading to further problems. These untreated problems then worsen over time, leading to suffering and further problems.
The issue isn't all from others, either. Internalized stigma can create a fear of judgment from others, leading to people refusing to open up and preventing more open conversations from happening. In many cases, the stigma people saw at a young age came from parents and other family members, so they will not even open up to loved ones.
Mental health awareness for seniors is hugely important, but these feelings are then exacerbated by society at large dismissing mental health concerns as trivial, putting them at a different level from physical ailments. Seniors begin to believe that opening up makes them a "burden", and senior isolation in Knoxville then worsens.
For these reasons, Deane Hill Place ensures that we offer our staff the training they need to avoid the appearance of judgment. We encourage those with us to share their emotional needs, allowing us to respond appropriately with the right level of care.
Further Hidden Costs of Stigma for Senior Wellness
Avoiding seeking help can often lead to serious mental health problems, the most common of which are the more well-known depression and anxiety. With no intervention, these can then worsen and even impact someone's physical health in a vast number of ways.
Depression, for example, can lead to neglecting self-care. Seniors may skip meals or develop insomnia, which then makes handling difficult emotions even harder. The emotional neglect they feel, despite never being able to communicate their needs, can then spiral as others find it more challenging to engage them as peers.
The isolation resulting from this can then accelerate cognitive decline, leading to dissatisfaction in life, and even the potential of those who are suffering taking extreme action to end it.
Narratives like these are why Deane Hill Place helps people to maintain both their mental and physical health with various daily activities alongside our Memory Care services that can ensure the challenges seniors face do not lead to worse issues.
Physical Repercussions of Stigma and Older Adults
The dangers of stigma go beyond social and emotional. Delayed recovery in mental health can lead to other issues, such as:
- Lengthy rehabilitation times for other illnesses
- Increased hospitalization risk due to undernourishment
- Heightened stress leading to weaker bones from hormonal imbalance
- Weakened immune systems and worsening chronic conditions
- Lower coordination leading to increased fall risks
- Reduced motivation to care for one's environment, increasing trip hazards
The above list is not exhaustive, and people should be aware that each is often its own problem. Around a quarter of U.S. adults (CDC, 2024) don't have any emotional support, and there is no quick solution to these problems.
However, at Deane Hill Place, we focus on emotional well-being in those with us to ensure balanced emotional support for aging adults that helps address the range of issues a person may have.
How Deane Hill Place Offers Practical Steps to Reduce Isolation
Here in our community, we offer several solutions to address the challenges that mental health issues can present. While we aim to reduce stigma, many of these initiatives also help people become more open and honest without needing to overcome that shame.
One of the simplest ways we do this is by offering shared meal spaces with our shared dining room and chef-prepared meals. These foster casual conversations and allow people to open up to one another.
We also run walking clubs and activities that help improve the mood of those with us while promoting peer connections and social interaction. For some, even the emotional expression of painting or music, or a shared joy of winning a game, can help to diminish a stigma that lies over expressing oneself.
Throughout all of this, our staff will conduct routine check-ins to ensure everything is as it should be, as well as identify emotional challenges early, which we can then help with if necessary or monitor while a senior healthily resolves them.
Help a Loved One Connect and Express Themselves
What is stigma in mental health? It's a long legacy of trouble expressing oneself and an avoidance of healthy expression. Luckily, embracing the support of you or a member of staff here at Deane Hill Place can help a loved one feel safe during emotional struggle.
We address stigma whenever possible, restoring seniors' energy and health through open and honest engagement they deserve. To learn more about how we achieve this, contact us today to book a tour of our community. Reach out to Deane Hill Place and learn what a caring and emotionally resilient group looks like.