Revisiting Stigma the Game of Appearances

Revisiting Stigma: The Game of Appearances revisits how stigma still, despite awareness about its existence and its effects, dictates how we behave in a variety of situations. Taking excerpts from the play, Night Mother, which uses epilepsy as a case in point, we will see how stigma works as a weapon that punishes any deviation from the established standards of desirability, that forces people to misrepresent themselves and hide their problems. Professionals who have either lost sight of, or underestimate the multitude of overpowering, far-reaching, shame inducing effects of stigma are at risk of counter-transference issues that can undermine treatment. We know that clinicians are human beings, not impervious to social conditioning.