Intersectional Stigma and the Acceptance Process of Women with Mental Illness

Acceptance of mental illness is facilitated by the presence of various resources that are needed to deal with associated stigma, prejudice, and discrimination. However, women with mental illness experience added levels of stigma and intersectional oppression that affect the acceptance process, including higher rates of victimization, unemployment, poverty, homelessness, and clinical disparities. Practitioners and researchers can benefit from sensitivity to intersectional stigma, or overlapping, multiple levels of stigma and discrimination, faced by women with mental illness. Participant case narratives from a qualitative study will be presented in order to demonstrate the impact of intersectional stigma on the process of acceptance for women with mental illness.