#MentalHealthPolicy

A new analysis clarifies a crucial point: “mental health stigma” is not one problem but two distinct challenges. Distinguishing between stigma toward psychotic disorders and stigma toward common conditions like depression and anxiety matters for effective campaigns in Thailand’s post-pandemic recovery. Policymakers, healthcare workers, and communities can use these insights to craft more precise, impactful efforts.

Stigma remains a major barrier to care. Recent coverage explains that lumping all mental illnesses together undermines anti-stigma work. In Thailand, as in many countries, public responses often conflate different conditions, leading to misperceptions and reduced access to services. The Department of Mental Health notes rising mental health hospitalizations and suicide rates in the post-pandemic period, underscoring the urgency of targeted strategies.

A groundbreaking new analysis has brought careful attention to a critical but often misunderstood topic: the very different types of stigma surrounding mental health, and how failing to distinguish between them can undermine anti-stigma efforts worldwide—including those in Thailand. As mental health takes center stage during Thailand’s post-pandemic recovery, this research holds urgent lessons for policymakers, care providers, and ordinary citizens.

Stigma remains one of the most persistent barriers to effective mental health care. The latest insights, as reported in STAT News, explain that “mental health stigma” is not a single problem, but rather a pair of related but distinct social responses—each with unique consequences. The article draws upon international data and personal testimonies to shed light on how societies, including Thailand, routinely conflate two very different stigmas: one tied to psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, and another linked to common, nonpsychotic disorders like depression and anxiety.