Among the most painful of human experiences is feeling rejected. In fact, the brain can't tell the difference between social rejection and physical pain: MRI images show that rejection hits the same parts of our brains that physical pain hits.

The fact is, we are social animals, and we feel the impact of social interactions quite deeply. And for those who are stigmatized, ostracized, shunned, or rejected by society, the pain can be chronic, intense, and may have profound effects.

And stigma transcends the person who’s stigmatized; even family or others who in any way connected with the stigmatized person are often stigmatized.

This is an important issue, and I am so glad to welcome back my highly esteemed colleague and previous SuperPsyched guest, Dr Stephen Henshaw. Many of you remember him from the episode on ADHD and girls. Steve is also the author of a profound a memoir called Another Kind of Madness in which Steve shares the story of his family and his father’s struggle and stigmatization as he dealt with mental illness. Steve is a UC Berkeley & UC San Francisco School of Medicine Distinguished Professor of Psychology, and he was recently inducted into the American Academy of the Arts and Sciences.

So, please listen in as Steve and I unpack the phenomenon of stigma and how we can best deal with it. Book Link: https://amzn.to/3P9FRrE This is an affiliate link. It will provide me with a small commission on purchases made through it and help the podcast (but it won’t affect the price you pay).