Stigmatization and Destigmatization, Essay Example

The Mayo Clinic states that a stigma is a judgment based on someone’s personal traits such as a disability or certain health condition. It is a fact that some health conditions carry stigmas in society such as HIV/AIDS, physical deformities, diabetes, or mental illness. These stigmas are heavily associated with perceptions, ignorance and false beliefs about the conditions. People who have certain stigmatized health conditions are often victims of ridicule, discrimination, being left out, or harassment (Mayo Clinic, 2011).

The media often plays a role in making the stigmatization of certain health conditions worse, in my opinion. For example, whenever someone with a mental illness commits a crime it is sensationalized in the media, such as when someone carries out a mass shooting. This is something that causes people to feel like all people with mental health conditions are likely murderers.

Ethical Universals

Ethical universals as it relates to biomedicine do exist, whether we want to think it does or not. Moral philosophy has been applied to the field of medicine many times, particularly in the fields of modern medicine with the discovery of gene and stem cell therapy. However, biomedical procedures such as in vitro fertilization have been around for some time. The distinction between basic morals and derived morals relating to this issue stems from perception of individuals and groups of people, as well as beliefs. Most people have the same basic morals but split hairs or draw the line when it comes to biomedical procedures, because there are those who believe this technology is “playing God” and there are those who do not believe this to be true.

Reference

Mayo Clinic. (2011, May 26). Mental health: Overcoming the stigma of mental illness. Retrieved April 16, 2013, from The Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mental-health/MH00076