Mental illness is not a choice
Mental disorders affect up to one in three people in Poland. Despite this prevalence, they are still treated as an embarrassing, uncomfortable and sometimes even dangerous subject. The stereotypes surrounding people with a psychiatric diagnosis are deeply rooted. Patients are sometimes seen as unpredictable, aggressive and a threat to those around them. Such thinking not only hurts, but also discourages people from seeking help and prolongs suffering.
CBOS data shows that over 60% Poles consider mentally ill people to be aggressive. 96% of respondents declared that they avoid contact with them. Almost half admitted that they happened to taunt such people. These are frightening figures. Meanwhile, mental problems are not a choice. Nor are they a weakness. They are illnesses that require treatment, support and empathy.
A psychiatrist? Maybe in six months... The situation in Poland through the eyes of a patient
The psychiatric care system in Poland is not keeping up with reality. A patient who needs help often has to wait many months for an appointment with a specialist. Access to psychotherapy within the National Health Fund is illusory, and most often one has to be treated privately, which for many people means an insurmountable barrier.
There is a shortage of psychiatrists, psychologists and well-organised facilities. In smaller towns, psychiatric treatment is practically non-existent. Patients are often sent from one centre to another. Sometimes the only real help becomes a psychiatric hospital, a place of last resort. Meanwhile, mental disorders, like any other condition, require prompt diagnosis and ongoing treatment, not crisis intervention.
Diagnosis hurts. The psychological cost of stigma
A psychiatric diagnosis alone can sometimes be a blow to the patient. In theory, it should bring relief and open the way to treatment. In practice, it often becomes a 'label' that causes anxiety, shame and a sense of inferiority. In a study conducted by the SWPS team, patients described, among other things, the emotional cost of the illness: loneliness, powerlessness, anger, loss of dignity.
Many respondents emphasised that the greatest burden was not the illness itself, but the reaction of those around them: lack of understanding, indifference and sometimes open hostility. As a result, patients felt even more isolated. They often stopped seeking help or gave up treatment because they did not want to be 'branded'.
Humanising psychiatry. What does this mean in practice?
Humanising psychiatric care is not an empty slogan. It is concrete action: from the language, to the organisational system, to the way therapy is delivered. Treatment cannot be based solely on pharmacology or formal contact with the doctor. What is needed is space for conversation, understanding, rebuilding trust.
The psychiatrist should take the time to listen and not just give a prescription. The therapist needs to build a relationship in which the patient does not feel judged. Medical staff need to know how to talk to a person in mental health crisis - without prejudice, without fear, with attentiveness. The change also needs to involve the whole system: from GPs to schools to community support centres.
How to break the stigma?
Breaking down stigma is a task not only for doctors, but for society as a whole. Education is needed in schools, the media, the workplace. Social campaigns should show that mental disorders are part of many people's lives and not a reason for exclusion.
Language is equally important. Words such as "nut" or "nut" can destroy someone's will to fight for health. It is worth starting with simple gestures: treating the other person with respect, asking "can I help you?" rather than "what's wrong with you?". Social change starts with individual contact and openness.
Mental disorders should not condemn people to loneliness. A person who seeks help deserves support, not a stigma. Humanising psychiatry means that treatment is not only effective but also dignified, based on empathy and understanding. This is not a privilege. It is every patient's right.