Psychophobia
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Contents |
[edit] History
Psychophobia means fear of the mind or rather fear of the mentally ill. Over history the mentally ill were accused of being possessed by demons or the devil or of being witches or warlocks or devil worshippers. In modern times when psychology was developed it was found that such people had a mental illness and no demons or any other explanations mentioned above. Yet the fear of the mentally ill continued. In some mythologies deities like Loki are called evil, but they are really misunderstood and may be suffering from some form of mental illness as an explanation for their actions and behaviors. Loki for example, might have suffered from schzio-affective disorder or schizophrenia, and the other gods just didn't understand why he was the way he really was, and labeled him evil or a mischief maker.
[edit] Social influences
Psychophobia is taught when parents tell their children to behave or else they'll end up in a mental hospital. The children learn to fear the mentally ill, lest they become one of them. Hollywood, TV shows, the media, and news programs all have negative stereotypes of the mentally ill which contribute to psychophobia.
[edit] The Law
In the USA the Americans with Disabilities Act protects the mentally ill because they have a mental disability, yet due to psychophobia many mentally ill people are discriminated against anyway. Other nations have laws for protection, yet they too have a psychophobia problem and discriminate against the mentally ill and fear them.
[edit] Homeless problem
Homeless people often have been suffering from some form of mental illness. I caused them to lose their jobs and be unable to be hired by a new job. Employers often have psychophobia suffering managers who refuse to hire anyone mentally ill. If they discover someone is mentally ill, they might try to heap extra workloads on them to cause enough stress to force them to quit.
[edit] Healthcare against the mentally ill
Asylum Online talks about Psychologists and the health care industry having a fear of the mentally ill and discriminating against them. Conditions in hospitals getting worse and mistreating mentally ill people. Sexually assaulting mentally ill people by staff, and beating them up with security guards. Even insurance companies denying them benefits.
