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Victoria Riley-Lomedico
Mrs. DeBock
English 4 Honors
March 13, 2015

Essential question: How does the stigma of mental illness affect mentally ill people?
Working thesis: In institutions and society, the negative stigma toward mental illnesses affects
peoples health, the quality of care, their lives, and the stigma needs to be reduced.
Refined thesis: In institutions and society, the negative stigma toward mental illnesses affects
peoples choice of seeking help, the quality of treatment they receive, their everyday lives, and
the need to be reduced.

Annotated Bibliography

King, Gemma. "Staff Attitudes Towards People With Borderline Personality Disorder." Mental
Health Practice 17.5 (2014): 30. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.
This article helps to prove the statement that some staff do have prejudices against the
mentally ill. King explains how even after efforts to get rid of the negative stigma of mental
illness, attitudes remain unchanged. This article gives tips on how to improve the stereotypes and
stigma relating to mental disorders, which causes better service toward the patient. King also
explains what could be causing the service providers to have a stigma against a patient. This
article also gives evidence of nurses having the lowest score for empathy, proving the point of
the quality of care the patient is receiving. This article is relevant to the research because it helps
to prove that the institutions have stigmas against mental illness, gives tips on how to improve

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the stigmas against the patients, and explains why the service providers could have negative
connotations with the mental disorder(s).

Shrivastava, Amresh, et al. "Clinical Risk Of Stigma And Discrimination Of Mental Illnesses:
Need For Objective Assessment And Quantification." Indian Journal Of Psychiatry55.2
(2013): 178-182. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.
The author proves the point that stigma and discrimination are incredibly prevalent in the
lives of the mentally ill. Shrivastava explains how the stigma against mental disorders can harm
many patients lives, giving the patients a greater risk at not seeking help, not complying with the
doctors, and relapse. This article provides answers on how to have an anti-stigma impact in
institutions and societies. He states that the quantification of stigma is necessary to help improve
the stigma against mental illnesses. This article is relevant to the research because it tells how
the stigma can influence the everyday lives of the mentally ill and how to get rid of the stigma.

Sickel, Amy E, Nina A Nabors, and Jason D Seacat. "Mental Health Stigma Update: A
Review Of Consequences." Advances In Mental Health 12.3 (2014): 202. Advanced
Placement Source. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.
This article describes how the stigma of mental illnesses are disturbingly intertwined
with society. Sickel talks about the increase in mental illnesses, despite the negativity associated
with it. She also states how many patients do not seek treatment, because the barriers the social
structure and stereotypes put on the illness. She explains the difficulty of employment, housing,
and relationships with family and friends caused from having severe mental issues and how those
complications affect the person. She also clarifies how doctors and students have more
prejudices against mental illnesses than the patients or nurses. This article is beneficial to my

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topic, because it describes the impact the stigma places on the everyday lives of people with
mental illnesses, gives statistical values, and many insights into the relationship between the
stigma of mental health and seeking treatment.