Answer 1

One of the major obstacles to getting help from a mental health professional is the stigma that is attached to mental illness. We fear things that we do not understand. In the same way, our lack of understanding of mental illness makes us fear it. This lack of knowledge and awareness makes us -
(i) Blame the individual, i.e., think that mental illness is a personal failing or weakness.
(ii) Think that mental illness is caused as punishment for our sins.
(iii) Think that the person is intentionally behaving in an inappropriate way.