Reducing Mental Health Stigma
Simple, actionable strategies for individuals and organisations to reduce mental health stigma.
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Key takeaways
- Stigma prevents people from speaking openly and accessing support.
- It takes several forms, including public attitudes, self-stigma, and structural barriers.
- Stigma affects daily life through language, stereotypes, and social exclusion.
- Reducing stigma requires practical actions like education, person-first language, sharing stories, and early help-seeking.
- Workplaces play a critical role by building supportive cultures, training leaders, and addressing discrimination.
Mental health stigma stops people from speaking up and getting help. It shows up in workplaces, families, and everyday interactions.
Left unchallenged, it leads to silence, shame, and delayed support.
The good news? Stigma can be reduced. With small, consistent actions, we can create environments where people feel safe to ask for help.
What is mental health stigma?
Mental health stigma refers to negative beliefs, attitudes, or behaviours directed toward people experiencing a mental health condition. It creates judgement, shame, and exclusion, and often prevents people from seeking support or speaking openly. While attitudes to mental health have improved, studies show that rates of mental health stigma are still high both in public and the workplace.
What are the main types of mental health stigma?
Public stigma: This involves stereotypes and negative assumptions held by the broader community, such as viewing people with mental illness as weak, unpredictable, or dangerous.
Self-stigma
This occurs when a person internalises those negative stereotypes. They may feel ashamed, blame themselves, or believe they are less capable because of their mental health condition.
Structural or institutional stigma
This is stigma embedded within systems, policies, or organisational cultures. Examples include workplaces that discourage openness about mental health, limited access to support, or rules and practices that disadvantage people with mental illness.
How does mental health stigma show up in everyday life?
Stigma appears in everyday conversations through dismissive or harmful language, such as calling someone “crazy” or “unstable.”
It shows up in assumptions that people with mental health conditions are unreliable, dramatic, or exaggerating their symptoms.
It can also appear as social exclusion—avoiding someone, overlooking them for opportunities, treating them differently at work, or discouraging them from being open about what they’re experiencing.
Why does mental health stigma persist?
Stigma continues because misunderstandings and outdated beliefs about mental illness are still common.
How does lack of knowledge contribute?
When people don’t have accurate information, they rely on myths — such as seeing mental illness as a personal weakness or something someone should simply “get over.”
How do fear and stereotypes play a role?
Feelings of discomfort or fear can lead to stereotypes that people with mental health conditions are dangerous, unreliable, or unstable, even when these assumptions aren’t true.
What structural factors reinforce stigma?
Workplace norms, policies, and media portrayals can discourage openness, limit support, and reinforce negative attitudes, making stigma harder to challenge.
What is the impact of stigma around mental health?
Stigma can lower self-esteem, create shame, and push people into isolation. It often leads to avoiding or delaying treatment because of fear of judgement.
In workplaces and community settings, stigma contributes to discrimination, reduced opportunities, and exclusion, making it harder for people to participate fully or speak up about what they’re experiencing.
Strategies to Reduce Stigma Around Mental Health
For individuals
Educate yourself
Understanding the facts helps challenge myths and reduce harmful assumptions.
Use person-first language
Speaking in respectful, humanising terms reduces judgement and labels.
Share your story (if comfortable)
Open conversations can normalise mental health challenges and reduce shame.
Seek help early
Modelling help-seeking encourages others to do the same and reduces silence.
For workplaces and organisations
Build supportive policies and culture
Clear mental health actions and expectations create safer, more open environments. This includes providing access to workplace counselling and platforms like employee assistance programs.
Train managers and staff
Education helps people recognise issues, respond appropriately, and reduce fear of disclosure.
Encourage open dialogue
Regular, safe conversations help normalise discussing mental health at work.
Address structural barriers
Actively tackling discrimination, bullying, or exclusion removes systemic drivers of stigma.
For communities and society
Promote media literacy
Challenging harmful portrayals of mental illness helps shift public attitudes.
Support community education
Awareness campaigns increase understanding and reduce fear.
Encourage inclusive language and norms
Everyday environments that use respectful language help reduce stigma across all ages.
Sustaining change
Reducing stigma requires ongoing effort. Organisations can track progress through surveys, disclosure rates, and workplace culture metrics to understand how safe people feel speaking up.
Long-term change only happens through consistent action, not one-off events.
Leadership plays a key role by modelling openness, setting expectations, and ensuring accountability across teams.
Everyone has a role to play: individuals can challenge myths and use respectful language, workplaces can build safer cultures and clear policies, and communities can promote understanding and empathy.
Small, consistent actions make a meaningful difference—change begins with everyday conversations.
If you want to build a safer, more supportive workplace, consider introducing mental health training for your team.
The right training helps people recognise stigma, respond confidently, and create an environment where everyone feels comfortable asking for help.
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Answers to the frequently asked questions.
Our last EAP was barely touched. Why would this be different?+
Most EAPs go unused because of how they're accessed, not because staff don't need them. Phoning a stranger, explaining yourself, then waiting weeks is enough to stop most people before they start. Foremind removes all three steps: staff see real counsellor profiles, pick someone themselves, and book the same day.
If you already have a provider, the question worth asking is what your current utilisation is. Most traditional EAPs sit in low single digits, which means you're paying for cover your people aren't reaching. If yours is being used, staff can get seen quickly, and it covers your psychosocial obligations, there's no reason to move. If not, it's worth knowing what you're getting for the spend.
Do you offer 24/7 support?+
Yes. A 24/7 after-hours crisis line means staff can reach someone immediately at any hour, including nights and weekends.
Counselling appointments are also available outside standard business hours, so shift-based and on-call teams aren't limited to a nine-to-five window. Those are two different things, and it's worth checking any provider offers both rather than just the crisis line.
Are your EAP counsellors based in Australia?+
Yes. Every practitioner on the platform holds current membership with an Australian professional body and practises under Australian standards, codes of ethics and disciplinary frameworks. There are no offshore call centres.
Practitioners hold membership with the Australian Counselling Association, the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia, or the Australian Association of Social Workers, along with a current Working with Children or Vulnerable People Check.
How much does an EAP cost?+
Pricing is usually per employee per month, based on total headcount rather than how many people use the service. Costs vary widely depending on whether sessions are bundled in and whether compliance tooling is included.
A more useful comparison is cost per employee who actually uses it. An EAP with 2% utilisation can work out several times more expensive per person helped than one that gets used. Foremind offers pay-as-you-go, inclusive session plans and compliance-inclusive plans, with discounted pricing for not-for-profits and charities.
For full breakdown of our plans, see our EAP pricing page or request a quote for a tailored proposal.
What information does an employer receive about EAP usage?+
Nothing that could identify anyone. All counselling is completely confidential and all reporting is anonymous - you'll never see who booked, when, or what was discussed.
What you do see is the aggregated picture: how many people are using it, what psychosocial risks are prevalent in the business, and which teams are under pressure. Enough to know the investment is working and where to act, never enough to identify a person. Reporting thresholds mean small teams can't be reverse-engineered from the data.
Does having an EAP meet an employer's psychosocial duty of care?+
No. An EAP is a control measure, and a valuable one, but it only addresses harm after it has occurred. It doesn't identify hazards, assess risk, or evidence that controls are working.
Australian WHS law requires you to identify psychosocial hazards, assess the risk, control it so far as is reasonably practicable, and review whether those controls are working — with documented evidence at each step. Offering counselling on its own leaves three of those four steps undocumented.
Foremind covers both in one platform. See how the compliance side works in our product tour.