Past Event

The Department of Psychology is pleased to present the 3rd annual Psychology Let’s Talk Lecture on Thursday, January 27^th, at 2:30pm over Zoom. The topic of this lecture will be Identifying the gaps in efforts to end mental health stigma by Dr. Tina Montreuil of McGill University. All are welcome to attend.

Identifying the gaps in efforts to end mental health stigma

ABSTRACT

Stigma is defined as a mark or sign of shame, disgrace, or disapproval, of being shunned or rejected by others. It encompasses all negative thoughts, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours toward a group of people. It has been said that the prejudice and discrimination of mental illness is as disabling as the illness itself (Patrick Corrigan). Stigma interferes with early detection, and access to care, quality of life and overall prognosis. Just like mental illness, stigma affects the healthcare system, the provision of timely care, targets the educated, the rich and the poor. Stigma, ironically, does not discriminate. It includes discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes, which ultimately lead to the exclusion and isolation. In a world where social support is highly predictive of well-being, it is imperative that we have a better understanding of stigma and its underlying transmission mechanisms in order to overturn it. We often construe prejudice as judgment, though judgment represents the operation of mind that involves compassion, and where material facts are obtained and given consideration; whereas prejudice is defined as an opinion or judgment formed without due examination, often leaning toward one side in the absence of considerations of other than one’s own unreasonable opinion, without grounds or sufficient knowledge. Looking into current social actions to reduce stigma surrounding mental health, we explore the principle of “anchoring” and “overconfidence bias” as the basis for the internalization of confounding beliefs, which operate in opposition of destigmatizing mental health literacy efforts. The presentation will explore how teaching core socioemotional skills can be potentially more effective in lessening stigma, further reifying the importance of equity and diversity.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Tina C. Montreuil is the director of Childhood Anxiety and Regulation of Emotions Laboratory C.A.R.E. Research Group, a Regular Investigator of the Research Unit of Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment (GRIP), and a Full member of the McGill Centre for Research on Children and Families (CRCF). She is a recent awardee (September 2021) of the regarded Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program (CCHCSP) that offers an interdisciplinary mentorship to early-mid career researchers working on improving child health and well-being. She has gained recognition as a child well-being (i.e., emotion regulation, stress and anxiety), and parenting expert for the work that she leads in prevention and child development. Montreuil’s areas of expertise include the promotion of well-being, social-emotional development and learning, prevention – early intervention and mental health literacy / advocacy. More specifically, Montreuil’s current research focuses on investigating the role of emotion regulation, attitudes, and beliefs on the intergenerational transmission mechanisms of emotion regulation. Montreuil’s work first began working on school-based mental health by focusing on the promotion of emotion regulation in students and teachers. During her implementation of the universal emotion regulation school-based program called Healthy Minds, Healthy Schools, she developed, it became evident that working with young children required working with parents. This naturally led to the development of a complementary parenting program called Parenting C.A.R.E. which has been facilitated throughout the province in both English and French. Montreuil’s current work focuses on developing resilience and well-being in expectant parents through an intervention, Parents & Babies, which she has developed with a team of Canadian researchers.

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