Stigma of Mental Health: How bad is it, really?

I'm well aware of the stigma society has towards people dealing with mental illness, but I've always wondered how bad it is right now. It's a bit confusing for me because I believe that most people are good and mean well. On the other hand, most conversations people have about "crazy people" tend to usually point out how abnormal their behavior(s) are and keeping distance between them is a "necessity". I have always been too scared to test this out, by being open about my problems, because I fear a negative backlash in doing so. Is my fear well founded? Everyone draws impressions from what they see and feel, in terms of interpersonal interactions. But that's all they know. Let's say people saw and interacted with someone that struggles with mental health issues but do not know what the person struggles, would the peoples' perspective change if they knew what the struggles were and why the person has these struggles? I'm very sure there will always be those people that would act/react negatively no matter what, but most of the well meaning people might be understanding enough to deal with the person humanely. Is this wishful thinking or is there some truth to this? I'd really appreciate opinions and insight from anyone reading this. Please leave a comment of your thoughts.