In my opinion there is so much stigma around mental illness due to assumptions around those people being incurably crazy. When there is no difference between a mental illness and cancer or some other type of physical disease. Once we know that someone has a mental illness I think it automatically knocks them down on the ladder and we assume that they are incapable of functioning as a “normal” citizen. The factors that I think contribute to self-stigma are: social media, peers/family members, insecurities, fear of being punished, stereotypes, and lack of support. 

Someone’s culture can greatly impact their response and the response of their support system in some very negative ways and in some cases some positive ways. Some negative impacts are vulernability, fear of rejection, lack of resources (money and ways to get help), and having their support system turn their backs on them. On the other hand there can be some very positive impacts, it can bring people together, provide the individual with new supports in their life that they did not have before, and could create new opportunities for them to bring more success to their life. The reaction of those surrounding the individual will play a huge role in how they overcome this hurdle. In my opinion it is a sink or swim situation, if there are positive impacts the person will hopefully be able to find new ways to thrive, with negative impacts this could drag the person down preventing them from living their life to the fullest.