Written Off Mental Health Stigma and the Loss of Human Potential

Written-Off tells the story of how mental health stigma comes to have a profound impact on the lives of people diagnosed with mental illnesses. It reviews theory, research, and history - illustrated with a multitude of personal stories - in four major areas. These areas are: the prevalence and predictors of negative attitudes and behaviors toward mental illness, the impact of community attitudes and behaviors on the self-perceptions of people diagnosed with mental illness, the impact of self-perceptions on the community participation of people diagnosed with mental illness, and how to change self-perceptions through a variety of approaches.

1. Why stigma matters; 2. Does mental health stigma really exist?; 3. What does stigma look like?; 4. Who stigmatizes?; 5. Responses to stigma among people diagnosed with a mental illness; 6. Discredited: the impact of self-stigma on identity and community participation; 7. Stigma by association: the impact of stigma on family members and professionals; 8. The possibility of change: peer-led options; 9. The possibility of change and interventions: professional options; 10. Where do we go from here?

Philip T. Yanos, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology at John Jay College, City University of New York. He is an Associate Editor for the journal Stigma and Health, and the interim Director of Clinical Training for the clinical psychology Ph.D. program at John Jay College. Yanos is the co-developer of 'Narrative Enhancement and Cognitive Therapy', a group-based treatment which addresses the effects of self-stigma among people with mental illness. This treatment approach has been translated into five languages. He is the author of over eighty articles and book chapters, and is the principal investigator on two recent large, federally-funded projects.