How Prevalent Is Ableism in Relation to Mental Disabilities?
The act of discriminating against individuals based on disability is known as ableism. Identifying ableism in the context of physical disability is fairly easy to identify. But what about mental disability? How prevalent is ableism in relation to people whose mental disabilities make it more difficult for them to participate in society?
Mental health management doesn’t necessarily focus on ableism in the sense that healthcare providers focus more on helping patients live better lives and less on how the outside world interacts with them. Perhaps this is a mistake; maybe it’s not. Nonetheless, ableism is still something a mental health patient might have to face on a daily basis.
It Takes Many Forms
Ableism can take many forms. A good example of direct ableism would be denying a person with a mental disability the opportunity to prove they are capable of doing a particular job. Mental health challenges do not necessarily prevent an individual from performing to standards. Yet perceptions to the contrary can limit an employer’s willingness to give mentally disabled candidates a fair shot.
Unfortunately, ableism can be practiced at a much more subtle and discrete level. In an environment in which able-bodied and disabled employees work side-by-side, the able-bodied might be given a greater voice in determining what happens in the office. Those with disabilities – particularly when such disabilities are mental in nature – may not have their voices heard to the same extent.
Two Avenues for Improvement
Without some sort of quantitative measurement, there is no way to know just how prevalent ableism is in relation to mental disabilities. Even so, it is hard to make the case that such ableism does not exist. People with mental disabilities attest to it regularly. Even if it is not present in a given scenario, a patient can perceive it as being real.
As experts in mental health consulting, we feel it’s our responsibility to take ableism in relation to mental disabilities seriously. In light of that, we believe there are two avenues for improvement. The first is to help mental health providers do a better job of addressing ableism with their patients.
Patients would be well served by learning how to:
- Identify It – Ableism cannot be effectively dealt with if it is not recognized. Patients capable of identifying ableism don’t have to accept it as an unavoidable part of life.
- Cope With It – Learning how to cope with ableism can help patients maintain a positive outlook regardless of their circumstances. Things are slowly changing, but coping is still necessary until ableism becomes a thing of the past.
- Learn From It – The idea that what doesn’t destroy us makes us stronger certainly applies to ableism. To that end, understanding how to learn from discriminatory experiences only makes the disabled person stronger.
The second avenue of improvement is working with healthcare providers as they seek to educate businesses, nonprofits, etc. about the prevalence and effects of ableism within their respective environments. It is very possible that an organization recognizes ableism in relation to physical disabilities without having a clue about ableism relating to mental disabilities.
No Doubt It’s Real
The one thing we can say about all of this is that ableism is real. In terms of mental health management, we believe that it is something worthy of addressing at the provider level. Patients with mental disabilities face ableism in many forms. It can be just as damaging as physical disability discrimination. Therefore, it is not something to be swept under the rug based on the notion that it doesn’t occur often enough to be a real problem.