Why Stigma Runs Deep

Tammy Nyden gives break out session at the 37th Annual Midwest Symposium for Leadership in Behavior Disorders Sheraton Crown Center, Kansas City, Missouri. February 22, 2019.

Session Description:

We have been conditioned to think of mental illness as a character flaw caused by bad parenting. This stigma is a deep-rooted source of shame for children, parents, and teachers. It fundamentally assumes that good choices involve a strong will overcoming interfering emotion. Neuroscience says otherwise. Trauma-informed care offers a promising alternative to the punitive paradigm if it can get beyond the part of the stigma it keeps – that mental illness is caused by bad parenting. This requires 1. recognizing that neuro-difference has many causes (including brain injury & genetic conditions) and 2. broadening ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) research to include institutional and community traumas (such as school trauma, medical trauma, and racial trauma).