My powerpoint is about fighting against the stigma of mental illness. Society should empower and guide the people that need help not drag them down.

1. Mental Health
Awareness
By:Samantha Stegemerten

2. My Research topic is...
My topic for my research is mental health. My main goal is to focus on how to
break the stigmas that society creates while spreading awareness for the
people that suffer from mental illness and are afraid to seek help from
outside sources. I want to look into the background of mental illness and
research the various forms of it. I want to research what person started to
label the mentally ill for it to continue to be such a large stigma in society
today.

3. Historical
The main issue with mental illness is how the people that suffer from it are
treated. The early history of mental illness began in Europe, and in the 1600’s
was when mistreatment of individuals came into play. Those who were
mentally ill were not accepted in society back then and still are not accepted
into society now. In the 1600’s people would be locked away, chained up, or
had inhumane treatments performed on them. In the 1700’s some positive
enactments were performed but in some areas mental health patients were
still treated extremely poorly. In the 1800’s hospitals were created to house
the mentally but living conditions quickly became overcrowded.

4. Individuals involved in my topic
● I will reference to Demi Lovato because she continues to battle with
various mental health issues and she leads various mental health
organizations.
● Lady Gaga is an advocate for mental health and founded the born this
way foundation with her mother in 2012 to help children know that they
are not alone, she also suffers from PTSD was raped at the age of 19. She
is able to help and understand what other people are going through since
she can relate to them.
● Elton John has suffered from bulimia nervosa and substance abuse for a
few years in his life until he decided it was time to get help.

5. Questions
What ways can we as a society spread mental health awareness?
How come over the years people are no longer physically harmed but are
stilled bullied about their mental health?
Who was the psychologist or doctor that discovered the proper way to care
for a patient with a mental illness?
Why was abusive behavior the first initial reaction to a person who had a
mental illness in earlier years such as the 1600’s?

6. A Viewpoint that I disagree with...
Something that I would disagree with would be that society chooses to believe
that mental illness is not entirely true and it is just a way for people to receive
attention. Why would a person who is suffering from depression and anxiety
use their inner battles as an excuse for not wanting to be in a public setting? It
makes matters even worse that society has created a stigma that has lead
people to fear accepting any type of help. Mental illness is real and a battle
that no one should have to fight alone.

7. Bibliography
● Person. “Demi Lovato: I Knew at a Young Age I Had a Problem.” ELLE, ELLE, 11 Oct. 2017,
www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/a31029/demi-lovato-mental-health/.
● Tracyn. “The History of Mental Illness.” HealthyPlace, Healthy Place, 16 Sept. 2015,
www.healthyplace.com/other-info/mental-illness-overview/the-history-of-mental-illness.
● “Unite For Sight.” Introduction to Poverty, www.uniteforsight.org/mental-health/module2.
● Weir , Kirsten. “The Beginning's of Mental Illness .” American Psychological Association, American
Psychological Association, www.apa.org/monitor/2012/02/mental-illness.aspx.