The old and mentally ill in Australia: Doubly stigmatised

Abstract

This review proposes that the stigma attached to being old and having a mental illness has a disproportionate impact on those who are categorised as both. A brief historical account is given of what it means to have a mental illness and, separately, what it means to be old. Next, the stigmatising attitudes and their implications for the two separate groups will be reviewed, with discussion of the Australian media's portrayal of mental illness and old age. It is further argued that the implications of double stigma may be multiplicative, having even more of an impact on elderly mentally ill people than a separate consideration of these categories might suggest. Finally, some suggestions are made for beginning to address the double stigma attached to being both old and having a mental illness in Australia.