Prejudice and discrimination from mental health service providers.

TOPIC: This column describes the experience of prejudice and discrimination that some mental health service users encounter in their interactions with service providers and organizations. PURPOSE: The intent of this column is to highlight potential action steps to address the negative beliefs and attitudes of service providers that contribute to prejudice and discrimination. SOURCES USED: This description draws from published material and the authors' experience. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: If the most effective approaches to reduce public prejudice and discrimination toward people diagnosed with a mental illness are education and contact, then those methods may be useful methods to help mental health service providers view and engage persons served from a strengths-based recovery and wellness orientation.