Stigma and Health, Vol 11(3), Aug 2026, 405-418; doi:10.1037/sah0000595
Mental illnesses (MIs) can drastically alter the lives of the people who have them. People with MI also experience intense stigma. Stigma can be etched into legal structures (e.g., legislation) to create structural stigma. There are two types of structural stigma: (a) functional structural stigma, which directly adjusts the rights of people with MI, and (b) discursive structural stigma, through which focuses on how people with MI are discussed. The present study investigated discursive structural stigma by analyzing statutes that define MI across the 50 United States. A primary systematic search for definitions of MI and adjacent/related terms was conducted using the Westlaw database. A secondary state-by-state legislative website search was conducted to expand the search, resulting in 332 statutes. A critical discourse analysis was conducted on 91 statutes by inquiring about what is “mental illness” and its relationship to the community. Many statutes seem to frame MIs—and the people who experience them—as a collective burden to the encompassing social world, which is moderated by treatment and care. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)