an expectation or acceptance that people can fail and then recreate. It's not a stigma in America where it's more of a stigma over in in the United Kingdom and Europe. So I think that is part of it.It's also the scale of the American economy. Uh England, I think, has suffered more from the Thatcherite SW uh
The second thing that we need to do is, as Scott said before me, is clearly to take the blame out of HIV, to take stigma out. stigma and discrimination. Very early in the HIV epidemic in the country of Uganda, there was a fantastic group of people living with HIV
In such an innovative way of tapping into the private sector and using the built-in resources and infrastructure in that country to deliver these much-needed messages about stigma and discrimination and condom use in a much more effective way.And not only do that, but to bring these extra resources to the issue.
Is that incidental to what's happening? stigmatize somebody if you think they're crossing certain boundaries of taste and decency. The right said that those were tools of thought policing. We shouldn't
So he suddenly became a very strong light, which is understood to represent his heavenly glory. Stigmata is well known in the Catholic tradition. So this includes all sorts of scars that appear on people's bodies that correspond to the wounds
dinner and even little kids get a small glass of wine. stigmatized alcohol to where we are now. So, in a nutshell, that's kind of it.
You're like, yeah, I take care of my mind. So stigma , access, and price, affordability, depending on what your situation is-- so we're trying to find ways to bring people in at the lower end, increase access through working with employers, working with health plans.
And they don't find it boring. and they the stereotypes about it have changed. The stigma has changed. People's perception has changed.
I created it with two colleagues because movements need tools and ways to come together and share what we know. The stigma shouldn't be there but it's one way to undo the stigma .
But a lot of other people mask their sensitive traits, sometimes without knowing it, because there's a stigma around being sensitive. That stigma comes out differently for men and women. Men are told not to be sensitive at all.
Really just clearing out the noise. Because stigma comes about from noise. It's other people's chatters, other people's thoughts.
And in memory, Klas and his wife, Anki, Tim's mom, created Tim Bergling Foundation to raise awareness and address the stigma of mental illness, which we will hear about more today. So Klas, really, thank you for joining us and giving us the opportunity to learn more about Tim, about Tim Bergling Foundation, and also for us
And I think that's why the story is so brilliant, in that it sort of sets the stage for all the stories Making stigma productive of beauty.
And now we have to reach the other people because if we don't reach all people living with HIV, we won't actually end the epidemic. So stigma discrimination, what do we do about it? I know this is a big focus of yours.
The second thing that we need to do is, as Scott said before me, is clearly to take the blame out of HIV, to take stigma out. The stigma affects us here.
Is it another way of just ignoring the problem, or is it fear? the stigma of having a termination.
and even communicated that to her. The stigma associated with her expression of suicidal feelings, even among some in the medical community, could have only made Dominique feel even more hopeless and shamed.
a stigma towards a certain word that I now don't really anymore.
than stigma and prejudice.
And stigma happens to youngsters particularly.
a stigmatized subject? How you approach the humor to not take the seriousness away from it if it's something you do want to include in that story?
The stigmas are stripped away.
so stigmatized.
neutralizes stigmas I argue that uh gays and lesbians in this country had as
this medication and the stigma behind it. In the late 90s, a lot of people were on hormone replacement therapies
I think that stigma sometimes comes into play, too, and we're working on that in a lot of ways.
happening with the stigma around mental health, which is so great.
We need to embark on it with others and with all ages. But none of this stigma is natural and none of it is fixed. We can take a page from the body acceptance movement.
And break this stigma that people with disabilities need somebody else to survive.
weight of that stigma on us and what happens especially with young black girls
There's a stigma around this.
that the stigma attached to mental health is taken away?
And these disorders are also seen as-- it's a great stigma around them, taboo. And in some countries, it's a crime to take your life.
And what else can we do, both if we look at us as individuals but, of course, also as society to try to prevent this stigma around mental illness in your point of view? First of all, the society-- the governments of these countries,
because there's stigma around mental health and different types of disorders.
So silent shame and stigma around intersex conditions.
I just knew the stigma I guess I was attached to being LGBTQ.
So there's a stigma around Caribbean food that it is quite intimidating.
is because of the stigma .
and taking that stigma away for them to do it.
And the stigma autism around it made me even not want to talk about it even more.
So I felt the stigma there very strongly because I think this is a really well-written book.
And I see a lot of intra community stigma that goes on. People think about stigma coming from the outside, right, and affecting the group. But one of the things I think we haven't addressed within the gay community very well is the amount of stigma that exists
It's generally very much the same, actually. When we talk about stigma and discrimination as it relates to HIV, we need to, of course, realize that there are various natures and type of stigma and discrimination. Some of it's happening at community level in families.
But all this thrives and all this happens because of the overall environment that sustains, maintains, and lets discrimination thrive and lets stigma thrive. And let's look globally.
And so if we talk about addressing stigma and discrimination, we have to be able to challenge this overall legal and policy environment that lets stigma thrive. And this is what UN AIDS and other agencies are trying to do, working closely and together with civil society folks like Scott here
is very important. If you take a country like the Central African Republic where I'm currently working, people with HIV are working there under tremendous challenges. A review of the stigma index, which is a study that is done by people living with HIV to see the extent and degree of stigma in the communities, the stigma index result in the Central African Republic showed that 85% of people living with HIV report having been discriminated against or having faced stigma .
The second thing that we need to do is, as Scott said before me, is clearly to take the blame out of HIV, to take stigma out. Understand that stigma is not warranted.
And every year, we start kitchen table conversations. We challenge stigma , race, awareness, true cultural action in the form of mental health arts festival. The challenging time of year for a lot of people in January.
Suicide is said to leave survivors, the word used to refer to those of us left in devastated limbo. Eradicating the stigma and helping others out of isolated pain is something each and every one of us can impact and change.