Self-stigma is what happens when people have incorporated these public stigmas into their own beliefs, then get diagnosed with the condition, then turn these stigmas in on themselves. Self-stigma is also when someone feels terrible about themselves simply because they know they have a mental health condition.


Here's an example: Imagine a person has learned a stigmatized view from the general public (ex: people with bipolar disorder are dangerous). Then, this person receives a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. All of a sudden, they instinctively think they must be dangerous, because all people with bipolar disorder are dangerous, right? And that means they're a terrible, useless, shameful person, right?

Self-stigma can also develop when people warp things that are true about themselves due to their condition into something distorted and generalized.

Here's an example: An individual can't make it to early morning meetings because they need to sleep and respect their circadian rhythms. They distort this fact to the extreme and say "I'm useless in the workplace". This isn't helpful and it isn't true.