In 1963, Goffman, a foreigner, first introduced the concept of shame and used the word “stigma” to express the sense of shame, which is derived from the Greek word “stigma”, originally meaning a brand, indicating a feature of a person’s body that represents some undesirable moral characteristic of the person. Goffman describes it as a shameful characteristic that transforms a whole, normal person into a tarnished, discounted person. Since then the concept of stigma has been widely used in various medical fields, such as AIDS and mental illness. Since the 1990s, scholars in different fields in the West have begun to study the phenomenon of mental illness stigma, and the concept of stigma has become more diverse and richer. Some scholars have studied the concept of stigma from the perspective of cognitive psychology: the cognitive and behavioral characteristics of stigma as the core manifestation of mental illness include three aspects: social stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. Social stereotypes are a solidified perception of mental illness in society as a whole, while prejudice is the cognitive and emotional result of social stereotypes, and discrimination is the behavioral result of prejudice”. Some scholars describe the stigma of mental illness from a sociological perspective, “Shame emerges when the processes of labeling, stereotyping, isolation, loss of status, and discrimination occur.” In 2007, Chinese Yang LH first described the development of shame theory in Chinese society and culture based on existing theories of mental illness shame in Western countries. He described three mechanisms that generate shame in people with mental illness: direct discrimination against individuals, internalization of negative stereotypes by patients, and social institutional discrimination. On this basis, the author explores the influence of the Confucian doctrine of “face” and traditional Chinese attitudes of stigmatization of mental illness on shame, revealing that shame may be more strongly experienced by patients in Chinese society. 2. Basic conditions of illness stigma among patients with mental illness 2.1 Public attitudes Due to historical and cultural reasons and the understanding of the nature of illness, the public tends to have a rejectionist attitude toward patients with mental illness. Women are less likely than men and those with higher education than those with lower education to agree that people with mental illness experience stigma. Adolescents who suffer from mental illness will similarly experience more pronounced stigma. The domestic 2001 Gao survey found that patients themselves had the most positive attitudes about the social value of mental illness, family members were not optimistic about the social contributions of mental illness, while community residents had the most pessimistic and negative attitudes toward mental illness, and psychiatric health care professionals were more pessimistic than patients and family members about the social value of mental illness and whether to limit the social activities of mental illness, but were more community residents were more cheerful. 2.2 Experience of shame in people with mental illness Many people with mental illness have experiences and feelings about shame, and half of the people with mental illness admit to having been treated unfairly by their units, discriminated against by their colleagues or classmates, looked down upon by their neighbors, and led to failed relationships or marriages, in which discrimination is seen as an important part of shame. 3. How to deal with the stigma brought by mental illness 3.1 Popularize the knowledge of mental illness and mental health among Chinese people. Not enough attention is paid to mental health, and few people think about whether they are mentally healthy or not. In fact, the World Health Organization has proposed a new standard of health: “Health is a state of physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. 3.2 Eliminating the ‘sickness stigma’ of mental patients requires the joint efforts of the whole society The whole society should understand and care for mental patients, eliminate the fear and discrimination against mental illness, and definitely not let the patients live and die with the society. Because mental illness is also a disease, after treatment, can fully live and work normally. In addition, the patient’s family should also fully trust the professional ethics of the doctor and will not spread the patient’s privacy. 3.3 Change the cognitive attitude toward mental illness, to treat mental disorders as ordinary diseases, and understand the importance of persevering in treatment and restoring social functions For patients with mental disorders, they are firstly afraid that people around them will discriminate against them if they know their illness; and people around them are afraid that patients will endanger themselves. The different eyes around them cause great pressure to patients, which hinders them from seeking normal medical treatment, returning to society and restoring social functions. In fact, mental disorders (including insomnia, depression and anxiety disorders) is actually a general term for a large group of diseases that are as common as hypertension and gastroenteritis. Its cause is 60%-70% from the dysfunction of neurotransmitters in the brain and 30% from external influences (mainly psychological stress). But society at large is upside down, and when it comes to mental disorders, it is thought to be caused by stress, ignoring the fact that something is wrong with the brain. “To make patients comfortable with seeing a doctor, it is necessary to eliminate the lack of understanding from the outside world. Since there is a disease, we must treat it according to medical requirements, 3.4 eliminate some “misconceptions” Misconception 1: Some patients are willing to come to see a doctor, but refused to take medication, thinking that a few words with the doctor can be good. From the expert’s point of view, everyone may experience anxiety, depression, insomnia, if they can adjust themselves, usually will not come to the hospital to see a doctor. If they can’t adjust themselves, it’s unlikely that a doctor will be able to make their mental disorder better with a few words. Therefore, as long as the patient’s symptoms meet certain medical clinical diagnostic criteria, they should be treated according to medical procedures. However, the objective reality is that it is very common for patients to be reluctant to take medication, or to stop taking medication after a period of time, thus causing aggravation or recurrence of the disease, and the time spent on medication has to be further extended. In the case of depression, for example, treatment is divided into an acute phase, a consolidation phase and a maintenance phase, which require three months, six months and more than 6-8 months of medication (the length of the maintenance phase depends on the specific characteristics of the patient and the number of episodes). Those who adhere to the treatment as prescribed may be able to slowly reduce their medication after a year or a year and a half. However, if you have another attack after stopping the medication on your own, the duration of medication will have to be extended. People with three episodes may have to take medication for life to control the disease. Misconception 2: Some people take psychotropic drugs, or even just sleeping pills, and the people next to them will look at them and say don’t eat them, they will ‘become stupid’. In fact, domestic psychiatric drugs are basically closely followed by international standards, their safety and efficacy are quite high guarantee, and can never lead to such serious consequences as taking drugs to become stupid. Many people do not understand, especially those who have just started insomnia and depression, treat psychotropic drugs as poison, fearing that there will be problems if they take too much. In fact, taking psychotropic drugs in principle will not cause major damage to the heart, liver, kidneys, etc. Only 8-10 out of 100 people may experience symptoms such as yawning and gastrointestinal discomfort, which can be solved by changing the drugs or changing the way they are taken. 3.5 Use spiritual transcendental psychotherapy to cope with the sense of shame Laozi and Zhuangzi advocate the ideal personality: “transcendental, respect for natural humanity and freedom of personality”; advocate: see vegetation and embrace simplicity, return to the basics, less selfishness and less desire. Lin Yutang: “Taoist doctrine gives the Chinese mind In traditional Chinese culture, the philosophical attainment of Taoist doctrine is far above that of Confucianism. The British scholar Joseph Lee, who wrote the History of Chinese Science (10 volumes), said, “The Chinese have many characteristics, the most attractive of which come from the super tradition of Taoism. China without Taoism would be like a great tree without roots.” Taoist principles of dealing with the world and health have endured for more than two thousand years and still have a positive meaning in modern times for maintaining mental and physical health in order to improve interpersonal relationships with society. Spiritual transcendental psychotherapy: “benefit but not harm, for but not contend; less selfishness, less desire, know enough to know stop; know and under, with softness to overcome rigidity; return to the basics, go with the flow of nature” 3.6 on adolescent depression to pay more attention to many adolescents with bipolar depression disorder manifested as reluctance to learn, a school will run home, parents think the child is bored with school, first The parents think that the child is bored with school, first to open up, then to do psychological counseling, and then can not be suspended from school, before the consultation dragged a long time, and so to the hospital when the condition has been quite serious. If you can think about depression early and go to the hospital for examination, the treatment of depression will be more timely and effective. Parents should not avoid treating their children with “shame”, the earlier the diagnosis and treatment, the better it will be for the child’s health and learning.