Jennifer Tozier
Compentency Assignment 1, Review #2
Dr. Besthorn
09/15/2012
I chose to write my article review on the article entitled, “How clinical Diagnosis Might Exacerbate the Stigma of Mental Illness.” It is a not new concept that people are consistently drawn to a labeling others with a stigma, and this article delves into how we as social workers can (unintentionally) either encourage that stigma or hinder it based on the presentation to the client and to the public.
A key point to the article talks about three kinds of potential ways stigma hurts a client. The first was being label avoidance. Many people do not want to admit to a mental illness, let alone get it treated because of how they might be perceived. Those that can …show more content…

I came to that conclusion for several reasons mainly, because social learning theory suggests that human behavior is learned as individuals. The article talks about how people who have been diagnosed at times will not seek treatment solely because of how they will be stigmatized. The problem behavior will not be treated and will remain a problem because a stigma will be placed on that individual if they admit the problem and get treatment. I think that using the social learning theory as a mode of treatment can be possible if the social worker can convince the client that if they get treatment and function in a "normal" way they will have a better quality of life.
The article talked about how the social worker defines the mental illness and relays the information not only to the client, but also to other mental health providers is a determining factor on how it will be perceived. It is our ethical responsibility treat the client with dignity and respect, therefor when discussing the mental illness we need to be sure to use professional terms and be 100% correct before we unintentionally put a stigma on our client, they may put undue hardship in their life.
When engaging with a client with mental illness it is necessary to discuss with them what they can expect, from meeting with the mental health provider all the way through treatment. Also to find out what they expect from the process. It is vital to let them know that they will have