Bias. Simply hearing the word can provoke intense feelings for many. In today’s social climate, being willing to explore the subject of bias can be polarizing. Sometimes, though, doing exactly that is necessary to clear misconceptions and engage in sincere dialogue to grow together. One often overlooked aspect of that conversation is the role that bias can play in mental health.

Bias refers to an inclination or proclivity toward or against someone or something. There are many different types of bias, which exist in large part due to frames of reference like age, gender, upbringing, education, religion, media consumption and many more experiences and factors that shape our worldview. Ultimately, we all have biases simply on the basis that we’re human beings.

On the positive side, our biases influence our likes and dislikes, preferences, capacity to identify similarities and connect with others and our ability to make quicker decisions when necessary. Conversely, our biases can, intentionally or unintentionally, lead to distorted perceptions, inaccurate judgements, poor decision-making and even discrimination.

This can show up in seemingly innocuous but important ways, such as feeling justified when cutting another driver off in traffic but blaming another driver’s error on flawed character or personal intention. It can show up in subtle ways through harmful microaggressions like walking as far away as possible from a person that looks different than you or judging the person with uniquely colored hair or tattoos or a religious pendant. It can also show up in more outwardly obvious ways in the form of racism, sexism, ageism, heterosexism, ableism or classism. It’s easy to validate and reinforce these biases by surrounding ourselves with only like-minded people and only consuming information that aligns with our current viewpoints.

The cumulative effect of these biases can play an important role in mental health. On one side of the equation, holding unchecked biases can interfere with our ability to relate to or trust others, make us unnecessarily fearful, worried and paranoid or even be a factor in things like anxiety, depression and addiction. By acknowledging our healthy biases and addressing the unhealthy ones, we can do the opposite. That is, increase our ability to genuinely connect with others and feel more emotionally safe and secure.

On the other side of the equation, people who face negative bias or discrimination are more likely to have mental health problems like higher levels of stress, anxiety, depression and substance use. It is also bias that affects how people perceive others that suffer from mental illness, seek therapy or even openly discuss mental health challenges.

Perhaps two of the hardest things to do are to admit we may be wrong and to willingly be uncomfortable. But that might be exactly what is necessary to challenge our own biases. It is important to seek out information that counters our existing beliefs and work to connect with people that hold views that differ from our own. That might be in the form of intentionally consuming news sources or following social media channels that don’t necessarily align with our current viewpoints, starting a conversation with someone that looks or thinks differently than the people with whom you normally interact or making an effort to learn from someone of a different age, race, gender, sexuality, class or other cultural sector.

At the very least, it requires us all to be willing to provide a safe environment for ourselves and others to acknowledge our biases and seek ways to challenge them. In doing so, we can both create a culture where everyone feels welcome and valued and continue to improve our own well-being.