scholarly journals Perceptions and stereotypes about mental illness in a sample of Portuguese employers

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1440-1440
Author(s):  
A.J. Marques ◽  
L. Lopes ◽  
C. Queiros
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Physical Disabilities ◽  
Attitude Scale ◽  
Equal Opportunities ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
People With Mental Illness ◽  
Integration Policies ◽  
People With Physical Disabilities

IntroductionDespite society argues that all citizens have equal rights and equal opportunities, mentally ill individuals face discrimination, especially in the employment context. Research reported benefits of working and have a job, witch help play social roles and feel useful, key components in social inclusion and recovery of mentally ill individuals.Employers have an important role in the access of mentally ill individuals into work. They take decisions that affect life opportunities, but, due to their powerful position, their attitudes can influence all enterprise and maintain stereotypes and stigma.AimsKnow perceptions and stereotypes about mental illness in Portuguese employers.MethodsData were collected using a translation of Attitude Scale for Mental Illness (Hahn, 2002), evaluating dimensions such as separatism, stereotyping, restrictiveness, benevolence, pessimistic prediction and stigmatization. The scale was fulfil using online anonym way, by 50 employers from small (under 250 employees) metallurgic or textile enterprises (60% male, 40% female; mean age 45.9 years).ResultsNone of the enterprises have employees with mental illness, neither integration policies. Employers prefer to give a job to people with physical disabilities than to people with mental illness, choosing people with schizophrenia as the last possibility. They have little contact with mentally ill individuals, 96% don’t know governmental policies for job inclusion and only 54% accepts to participate in meetings to understand those policies. Stereotyping, benevolence and pessimistic prediction present highest values.ConclusionsEmployers must be informed about governmental policies using work as a form of social inclusion from mentally ill people.

scholarly journals Attitudes of undergraduates towards mental illness: A comparison between nursing and business management students in India

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Vijayalakshmi ◽  
D Reddy ◽  
S B Math ◽  
R Thimmaiah
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Nursing Students ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Business Management ◽  
Attitude Scale ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
People With Mental Illness ◽  
Management Students

<p><strong>Background.</strong> Mental illness is an important public health issue worldwide; stigmatisation and negative attitudes towards people with mental illness are widespread among the general public. However, little is known about the attitudes of undergraduates to mental illness. </p><p><strong>Purpose.</strong> To compare the attitudes towards mental illness among undergraduates enrolled in nursing courses v. those enrolled in Bachelor of Business Management (BBM) courses. </p><p><strong>Methods.</strong> A cross-sectional descriptive design was adopted for the present study. A total of 268 undergraduates were selected to complete the<em> </em>Attitude Scale for Mental Illness (ASMI) and the Opinions about Mental Illness in the Chinese Community (OMICC) questionnaires. </p><p><span><strong>Results. </strong>We found significant differences between the number of nursing and BBM students who agreed with statements posed by the questionnaires, e.g., that they would move out of their community if a mental health facility was established there (χ<sup>2</sup>=16.503, <em>p</em>&lt;0.002), that they were not afraid of treated mentally ill people (χ<sup>2</sup>=15.279, <em>p</em>&lt;0.004), and that people with mental illness tend to be violent (χ<sup>2</sup>=14.215, <em>p</em>&lt;0.007) and dangerous (χ<sup>2</sup>=17.808, <em>p</em>&lt;0.001). Nursing students disagreed that people with mental illness are easily identified (χ<sup>2</sup>=30.094, <em>p</em>&lt;0.000), have a lower IQ (χ<sup>2</sup>=70.689, <em>p</em>&lt;0.000) and should not have children (χ<sup>2</sup>=24.531, <em>p</em>&lt;0.000). Nursing students were more benevolent than BBM students, as they agreed that people with mental illness can hold a job (χ<sup>2</sup>=49.992, <em>p</em>&lt;0.000) and can return to their former position (χ<sup>2</sup>=11.596, p&lt;0.021), that everyone faces the possibility of becoming mentally ill (χ<sup>2</sup>=38.726, <em>p</em>&lt;0.000), and that one should not laugh at the mentally ill (χ<sup>2</sup>=17.407, <em>p</em>&lt;0.002). Nursing students held less pessimistic attitudes, as they felt that the mentally ill should receive the same pay for the same job (χ<sup>2</sup>=10.669, <em>p</em>&lt;0.031) and that the public are prejudiced towards people with mental illness (χ<sup>2</sup>=17.604, <em>p</em>&lt;0.001).</span></p><p><strong>Conclusion.</strong> College students’ attitudes towards people with mental illness vary based on the course that they are enrolled in. Attitudes may be positively improved by revising curriculum design to incorporate educational sessions about mental illness. These are essential steps to combat discrimination, and potentially enhance the promotion of human rights for the mentally ill.</p>

scholarly journals Management aspects of care for the homeless mentally ill

1996 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 158-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Timms
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Inner City ◽  
Severe Mental Illness ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Economically Disadvantaged ◽  
High Unemployment ◽  
People With Mental Illness ◽  
Homeless Mentally Ill ◽  
The Continuum

People with mental illness have always been marginalised and economically disadvantaged. Warner (1987) has shown that this is particularly true in times of high unemployment. Poor inner-city areas have excessive rates of severe mental illness, usually without the health, housing and social service provisions necessary to deal with them (Faris & Dunham, 1959). The majority of those who suffer major mental illness live in impoverished circumstances somewhere along the continuum of poverty. Homelessness, however defined, is the extreme and most marginalised end of this continuum, and it is here that we find disproportionate numbers of the mentally ill.

scholarly journals Public attitudes towards people with mental illness in England and Scotland, 1994–2003

2009 ◽  
Vol 194 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nisha Mehta ◽  
Aliya Kassam ◽  
Morven Leese ◽  
Georgia Butler ◽  
Graham Thornicroft
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Health Attitudes ◽  
Significant Deterioration ◽  
Community Attitudes ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
People With Mental Illness ◽  
Quota Sampling

BackgroundUnderstanding trends in public attitudes towards people with mental illness informs the assessment of ongoing severity of stigma and evaluation of anti-stigma campaigns.AimsTo analyse trends in public attitudes towards people with mental illness in England and Scotland using Department of Health Attitudes to Mental Illness Surveys, 1994–2003.MethodWe analysed trends in attitudes for 2000 respondents in each survey year (6000 respondents in 1996 and 1997) using quota sampling methods and the adapted Community Attitudes Toward the Mentally Ill scale.ResultsComparing 2000 and 2003, there was significant deterioration for 17/25 items in England and for 4/25 items in Scotland. Neither country showed significant improvements in items between 2000 and 2003.ConclusionsPublic attitudes towards people with mental illness in England and Scotland became less positive during 1994–2003, especially in 2000–2003, and to a greater extent in England. The results are consistent with early positive effects for the ‘see me’ anti-stigma campaign in Scotland.

Early interventions to prevent stigmatization and its consequences

2019 ◽  
pp. 9-16
Author(s):  
Norman Sartorius
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Concept Formation ◽  
Early Interventions ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
People With Mental Illness

People with mental illness are usually characterized by the unpredictability of their behaviour: this feature is central to the concept of ‘mentally ill’ and has found its expression in words such as ‘alien’ (describing a person whose behaviour is different and unpredictable) or ‘alienist’ (as a description of a psychiatrist who deals with mentally ill people). Unpredictability is the very basis of stigma: individuals with mental illness are separated from other people by their key characteristic of being different, alien, unpredictable—and therefore funny, dangerous, not belonging. The consequence of this fact for the fight against stigmatization is that a key element of work must be the education of parents, teachers, and others who influence the development of children in order that these children become adults who accept the notion that people with mental illness are similar to themselves (and to other people who do not have the illness) and that it is the illness that makes them different. Interventions against stigmatization must therefore begin not with the onset of illness or with the first encounter with a mentally ill person but with the concept formation—hence, early in life. Parents and teachers are, of course, not the only ones who influence children and the formation of concepts; media and other sources of information must participate in these efforts. The chapter also describes some of the measures that have been shown, in the course of several major studies in recent years, to be effective in reducing stigma.

scholarly journals Users’ Acceptance of Connected and Automated Shuttles for Tourism Purposes: A Survey Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 10188
Author(s):  
Roberto Battistini ◽  
Luca Mantecchini ◽  
Maria Nadia Postorino
Keyword(s):  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Physical Disabilities ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
High Confidence ◽  
Collective Transport ◽  
Transport Services ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
People With Physical Disabilities

In recent years, autonomous vehicles have received increasing attention and many studies in the literature have discussed the potentialities and the opportunities they could offer. Despite the potential benefits, mainly related to the expected reduction in accidents and congestion phenomena as well as the potentially improved social inclusion of people with driving difficulties (e.g., people with physical disabilities or elderly people), many aspects remain to be addressed, mainly for understanding users’ acceptance in the case of collective transport vehicles. This study proposes an analysis based on a survey aimed at exploring user’s preferences with respect to the use of autonomous shuttles (ASs) for tourism purposes. The main correlations between the variables considered and the preferences of potential users have been discussed. Interviewees expressed high confidence in AS technology, although the analyses performed about willingness to pay show that users give more relevance to the provided transport services than the AS technology.

scholarly journals Perception of Stigma among Caregivers of Mentally Ill People

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 184-189
Author(s):  
Srijana Pandey
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
College Teaching ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Voluntary Organizations ◽  
Negative Experience ◽  
Purposive Sampling ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Care Givers ◽  
People With Mental Illness

The lives of people with mental illness are altered by the symptoms of the illness, attitudes of people that view symptoms as threatening and uncomfortable, which foster stigma and discrimination within social circles. The catch of the study was to assess the stigmatizing beliefs among Caregivers of persons with mental illness. A descriptive and exploratory study was conducted with purposive sampling technique among 50 caregivers with interview method of mental illness patient with purposive sampling technique at Nepal Medical College teaching Hospital, Jorpati, Kathmandu, Nepal in Oct 2017- Nov 2017. The study revealed that the most of caregivers (62%) feel burdened financially, and about 64% think that people with mental illness are dangerous. Most of the caregivers (70%) think that the mentally ill people are violent. More than half (54%) of the caregivers think voluntary organizations are not doing adequate work in the field of mental health and 72%feel health organizations are giving less priority to mental illness as compared to other disorder. Most of the caregivers (66%) think that their occupational life has been interfered by the family member’s illness, and 56% don’t think that there are adequate law or rules regarding mental illness. In conclusion, care givers experience stigma such as concealment, negative experience, emotional stigma as well as work related stigma which affects the health and recovery of mentally ill persons. Compliance to medicine was poor and relapse rate was high which also have impact on the life of caregiver.

scholarly journals Attitudes toward mentally ill patients: a comparison between Romanian and International Medical Students

2017 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-406
Author(s):  
Codruta Alina Popescu ◽  
Anca Dana Buzoianu ◽  
Soimita Mihaela Suciu ◽  
Sebastian Mihai Armean
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Personal Contact ◽  
Future Health ◽  
People With Mental Illness ◽  
Stigmatizing Attitudes

Background. Stigmatizing attitudes to mental illness, and especially schizophrenia, are not limited to the general population but are also common among health professionals. Health professionals are in a position to model health related attitudes both in the general public and patients. Medical students are an interesting group to focus upon, since they are future health professionals and correcting stigmatizing attitudes is still possible during their educational curriculum.Methods. This study investigated the attitude toward mental illness in medical students at the Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy. We surveyed first year students, since they have not yet received specific classes or internships in psychiatry; 322 students from the Romanian and English sections participated, representing a response rate of 94.7%. The questionnaire consisted of the Romanian and English versions of Link's Social Distance Scale towards people with mental illness scale.Results. Overall, medical students had a relatively negative attitude towards people with mental illness, with moderate social distance and stereotypical attitudes. The level of personal contact with people with mental illness was correlated with positive attitudes. International students had scored lower then Romanian students on social distance toward mentally ill patients.Conclusions. Medical education can play an important role in the attitudes of students toward mental illness. Medical students have stigmatizing attitudes about mentally ill patients. Personal contact with people suffering from mental illness might contribute to a positive attitude from the medical students toward mentally ill patients.

Mental Health Stigma: What's Been Done? Where to Go?

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s245-s245
Author(s):  
P. Macedo ◽  
M. Silva ◽  
A. Fornelos ◽  
A.R. Figueiredo ◽  
S. Nunes
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Mental Health Stigma ◽  
Public Stigma ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
People With Mental Illness ◽  
Competing Interest

IntroductionNegative attitudes towards psychiatric patients still exist in our society. Persons suffering from mental illness frequently encounter public stigma and may internalize it leading to self-stigma. Discrimination occurs across many aspects of economic and social existence. It may represent a barrier for patients to receive appropriate care. Many anti-stigma campaigns have been taken to decrease people's prejudice, but its effects are not well documented.ObjectivesTo characterize anti-stigma initiatives and its effects on diminishing negative consequences of stigma.MethodsBibliographical research using PubMed using the keywords “stigma” and “mental illness”.ResultsDespite several approaches to eradicate stigma, it shows a surprising consistency in population levels. It was expected that focus on education would decrease stigma levels. The same was expected following concentration on the genetic causation of pathology. Most studies have revealed that education has little value and endorsing genetic attributions has led to a greater pessimism on the efficacy of mental health services, sense of permanence and guilty feelings within the family.ConclusionPublic stigma has had a major impact on many people with mental illness, especially when leading to self-stigma, interfering with various aspects in life, including work, housing, health care, social life and self-esteem. As Goffman elucidated, stigma is fundamentally a social phenomenon rooted in social relationships and shaped by the culture and structure of society. Social inclusion has been pointed as a potential direction of change.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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