Stigmas young people face can be worse than the problem they are seeking help for. What's new in the fight to overcome stigma?

At YoDAA we hear time and time again of the stigmas that young people come up against when seeking support for mental health and substance use issues.
Reducing stigma by persuading the public that such issues are ‘an illness like any other’ still pathologies the young person’s experience and implies that they are ‘sick’ or somehow ‘not normal.’
This is at odds with a strength based, person centred approach.
Re-framing experiences such as anxiety, depression and substance use, as normal responses to abnormal situations, may be more helpful in reducing stigma and enabling the public to empathise more. Check out what the British Psychological Society has to say in their latest research review. 
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