Stigma

What does it mean to be "normal"?  This idea of "Norm-al" gives rise to prejudice and discrimination that there is an abnormal population. This could be applied to groups of Race, Sex, Sexual Preference, Health, Age, and Disability. All group members share the same labels. These labels are called STIGMA. These stigmas create feelings of powerlessness, helplessness, confused, anger, depressed, frustration, anxiety, and fear.

When caring or helping persons with health challenges or who has disability, this is an important factor to consider, the PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTOR, the frustration they experience dealing with expectations to be "Normal". These feelings will create "Resistance" to the care or help they need. The resistance are not symptoms of their health problems or disability, they are symptoms to the "Expectation to be Normal" or our prejudice. They feel like a victim of prejudice/discrimination and they are. We treat them like there is something wrong with them and they have to "normal-ize" themselves. It is actually our own FEAR that put them in the box, like what we used to do to people who has Leper and Aids.

"To be sick, to have mental health problems, or disability" is a group that has a very strong stigma. They carry strong feelings aside from their "problems". These feelings need to be recognized and accepted before we can care or help a person. There are ways to manage this resistance. The best thing we could do is to ask ourselves: What does it mean to be "normal"?