by Richard E. Vatz

About the author: Richard E. Vatz is a professor of rhetoric and communication at Towson State University in Maryland and the associate psychology editor of USA Today magazine.

There is no more common cry in the mental health world than the cry to destigmatize mental illness. Over and over, primary players in mental health argue that the stigmatization of mental illness sufferers is the cause of underdiagnosis of those so afflicted and unfair treatment of the mentally ill....

Stigma is a term defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as “a mark or token of infamy, disgrace or reproach.” As used by the mental health industry, though, it invariably means an unfair, inaccurate, and dysfunctional reputation tied to a notion of mental illness that lacks any voluntary component. This view...