This report contributes to national efforts to understand and change attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that can lead to stigma and discrimination. Labeled individuals are then socially devalued, which leads to inequality and discrimination. Stigma is a complex social phenomenon based on a relationship between an attribute and a stereotype that assigns undesirable labels, qualities, and behaviors to a person with that attribute. However over the same 50-year period, positive change in American public attitudes and beliefs about mental and substance use disorders has lagged behind these advances. The consumer movement gave voice to people with mental and substance use disorders and brought their perspectives and experience into national discussions about mental health. It ushered in an era of optimism and hope and laid the groundwork for the consumer movement and new models of recovery. The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 is considered a major turning point in America's efforts to improve behavioral healthcare. Improving the lives of people with mental health and substance abuse disorders has been a priority in the United States for more than 50 years.
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NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS. 2012 FULL
These disorders are among the most highly stigmatized health conditions in the United States, and they remain barriers to full participation in society in areas as basic as education, housing, and employment. Estimates indicate that as many as 1 in 4 Americans will experience a mental health problem or will misuse alcohol or drugs in their lifetimes.