Stigma and Mental Health

Mental illness is analogous to physical illness – mental illnesses are health conditions involving changes in biochemistry, emotion, thinking and behavior or a combination of these. They are treatable.

1 in 5 Americans experience a mental health disorder at some point in their life yet mental illnesses are highly stigmatized. Patients with mental illness often experience feeling shamed, alienated, and blamed for their symptoms and perceptions of people with mental illness as having character flaws or moral failings are common.

References:  APA (2020) and Corrigan and Watson (2002)

Resources

Advocacy

AMA resource: mental health and substance use disorder parity

American Medical Association

ARC Issue Brief: support medical criteria for medical necessity determinations for mental health and substance use disorders.

Advocacy

AMA summary of MHPAEA final rule

American Medical Association

On September 9, 2024, the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury released a final rule implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). The 513-page rule includes numerous provisions strongly supported by the AMA and represents an opportunity for state legislatures and departments of insurance to strengthen their own parity laws.

Enhanced Attestation of Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity

Treatment| American Psychiatric Association
Use of this form by state regulators--and health insurers--can help ensure meaningful state oversight and compliance with the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.  This guides health insurers through the necessary analysis to demonstrate compliance with the law, which can then be made available to a state department of insurance to streamline regulatory review.