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According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, stigma means "sign of disgrace." Not only do mental health consumers have to deal with their illness, they have to deal with the shame of their illness. People who have mental health issues are fair game for ridicule. While TV sitcoms, movies, ads and comedians do not mock cancer or AIDS patients, it's still acceptable to ridicule and misportray people with mental illness.

I am a mental health consumer. Stigma is part of my being, it's the way I'm judged, and how I judge myself. I notice every time I see there's a violent crime in the paper or on TV, I check to see the mental health status of that person. Invariably if the crime is heinous enough the person is described as "psycho," "wacko," or another such pejorative term. The public believes the perpetrator will get off with a plea of insanity. Never mind that only 1% of defendants use such a plea, or that ¼ of 1% are successful. The average person thinks of an insanity plea as a way for someone to get away with something.

People watch an average of 35 hours of TV per week. Generally that is where they get their information about mental illness. And the image of the mentally is invariably shown in a negative light or stereotypically. Mental health consumers are viewed as violent, unpredictable, disorganized and incapable of achievement. They're the homeless you step over, huddled in their blankets, the person who is shrieking nonsensical babble on the subway, and the stranger in the shadows waiting to attack you.

Stigma takes many forms. Some appear benign, like calling basketball playoffs "March Madness" or sitcoms making jokes about "going mental." To admit to mental health problems is to admit the most disgraceful acknowledgement and diminishes the person.

A way to fight the stereotypes is to point out commonly used terms and their destructiveness. Another is educate the public that one out of 10 suffer from a major illness such as depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Spread the word about the famous and not so famous that have had illnesses.

Fight for parity. If someone has a cardiac problem, they would pay 20% and 80% would be picked up by insurance if they had insurance. Whereas if someone has a mental illness, they have 50% coverage and have to come up with the other 50%. This is an example of how stigma can affect treatment. Many consumers cannot afford treatment. They don't seek help and the cycle continues.

Living in a society under stigma I had to learn to deprogram myself and look at myself as strong because I survived. I was ashamed of who I was. I was in the closet. I lived in secrecy and as a result my whole life was a lie. I spent too much energy hiding who I was. I was guilty of passing, of trying to deny stigma when I applied for a job, when I worked on a job, when I applied for school, when I was in school, even when I dealt with my friends. I felt degraded and ashamed. When I matriculated at Hunter School of Social Work, I told no one that I was bipolar.

The subtext of all of this is that non-labeled people are afraid of us. They see a person who looks just like them and they think, this could happen to me. They turn those with mental illness into the OTHER. Therefore, they push it away. I, too, tried to push it away.

A person dealing with illness and shame must be strong. In order to confront their disorder and face stigma, a consumer becomes a survivor on a higher level than those who don't have to face such obstacles. You have to be proud of who you are. I became proud when I worked with people who were also consumers and I didn't have to hide who I was. We can create a movement to educate the public and oppose the negative stereotypes. That would be the way to fight against stigma, which is like fighting a tsunami. In order to combat stigma, mental health consumers must form a civil rights movement, just as African-Americans, feminists and gays did with pride as a political bloc.