Suspicious minds: Police Attitudes to Mental Ill Health

Policing and mental ill health are inextricably entwined. The police have a role to respond to distressed persons and depending on the circumstances act as mental health practitioners or law enforcement officers. Policing can have an impact on the mental health of those delivering the service. Those working within policing will either experience, work alongside and/or manage colleagues with mental ill health. Therefore it is important that the attitudes of police officers and police staff to mental ill health are established. The research employs the Time to Change Survey to bench mark police attitudes against the general public. Results indicate that police officers/staff hold similar attitudes to the public. However police officers are less supportive of community based interventions. Police data portrays an organisation where mental health related stigma persists, where discussing or seeking help is avoided and having a mental health issue seen as career destroying.

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‘Swinging the lead and working the head’ – An explanation as to why mental illness stigma is prevalent in policing

The Police Journal Theory Practice and Principles ◽

10.1177/0032258x211049009 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 0032258X2110490

Author(s):

Sean Bell ◽

Sue Palmer-Conn ◽

Nick Kealey

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

At Risk ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Help Seeking ◽

Mental Illness Stigma ◽

Health Issue ◽

Mental Health Issue ◽

Related Stigma ◽

Health Related ◽

Support Recovery

Policing can be injurious to the mental health of those delivering the service. The causes can be operational, organisational or a mixture of both. Mental health related stigma is prevalent within policing; thus, help seeking is avoided. Those who do seek help are often thought to be malingerers. Managers are considered to be ill equipped to identify and support those at risk. The processes and policies that are meant to support recovery do not meet the needs of the officers and staff living and working with mental ill health. Consequently, disclosing a mental health issue is seen as career destroying.

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Prescribing stigma in mental disorders: A comparative study of Portuguese psychiatrists and general practitioners

International Journal of Social Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/00207640211002558 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 002076402110025

Author(s):

Bárbara Almeida ◽

Ana Samouco ◽

Filipe Grilo ◽

Sónia Pimenta ◽

Ana Maria Moreira

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Disorder ◽

General Practitioners ◽

Psychiatric Patients ◽

Self Report ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Medical Speciality ◽

Diagnostic Overshadowing ◽

Related Stigma ◽

Health Related

Background: Physicians, including psychiatrists and general practitioners (GPs), have been reported as essential sources of stigma towards people diagnosed with a mental disorder (PDMDs), which constitutes an important barrier to recovery and is associated with poorer clinical outcomes. Therefore, psychiatrists and GPs are key populations where it is crucial to examine stigma, improve attitudes and reduce discrimination towards psychiatric patients. Aims: This study is the first to explore mental health-related stigma among Portuguese psychiatrists and GPs, examining the differences between these two specialities and assessing whether sociodemographic and professional variables are associated with stigma. Method: A cross-sectional study was performed between June 2018 and August 2019. A consecutive sample of 55 Psychiatrists and 67 GPs working in Porto (Portugal) filled a 25-item self-report questionnaire to assess their attitudes towards PDMDs in clinical practice. The instrument was designed by the authors, based on previous mental health-related stigma studies and validated scales. The questionnaire includes 12 stigma dimensions ( Autonomy, Coercion, Incompetence, Dangerousness, Permanence, Pity, Responsibility, Segregation, Labelling, Diagnostic Overshadowing, Shame and Parental Incompetence), and its total score was used to measure Overall Stigma (OS). Sample characteristics were examined using descriptive statistics, and the factors affecting stigma were assessed through regression analysis. Results: GPs exhibit significantly higher OS levels than psychiatrists, and present higher scores in the dimensions of dangerousness, parental incompetence, diagnostic overshadowing and responsibility. Besides medical speciality, several other sociodemographic variables were associated with sigma, including age, gender, having a friend with a mental disorder, professional category, agreement that Psychiatry diverges from core medicine and physician’s interest in mental health topics. Conclusions: Our data suggest that both psychiatrists and GPs hold some degree of stigmatizing attitudes towards PDMDs. Overall, these results bring new light to stigma research, and provide information to tailor anti-stigma interventions to Portuguese psychiatrists and GPs.

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Long-term effects of filmed social contact or internet-based self-study on mental health-related stigma: a 2-year follow-up of a randomised controlled trial

Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology ◽

10.1007/s00127-018-1609-8 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 54 (1) ◽

pp. 33-42 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Sosei Yamaguchi ◽

Yasutaka Ojio ◽

Shuntaro Ando ◽

Peter Bernick ◽

Kazusa Ohta ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Social Contact ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Self Study ◽

Related Stigma ◽

Health Related ◽

Randomised Controlled

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Licensing and Physician Mental Health: Problems and Possibilities

Journal of Medical Regulation ◽

10.30770/2572-1852-93.2.6 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 93 (2) ◽

pp. 6-11

Author(s):

Herbert Hendin ◽

Charles Reynolds ◽

Dan Fox ◽

Steven I. Altchuler ◽

Phillip Rodgers ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Medical Care ◽

Help Seeking ◽

Psychiatric Care ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Health Related ◽

Seeking Help ◽

Medical License

ABSTRACT A number of factors appear to discourage physicians from seeking help for mental illness. This reluctance may be exacerbated by fears – well-founded or imagined – that by seeking help, physicians may put their medical license in jeopardy. To examine this risk, an analysis of all state medical board (SMB) license applications was followed by a seven-item survey mailed to SMB executive directors, and 70 percent responded. Follow up interviews were conducted with a sample of those not responding and also with a small group of directors whose responses were problematic. Thirteen of the 35 SMBs responding indicated that the diagnosis of mental illness by itself was sufficient for sanctioning physicians. The same states indicated that they treat physicians receiving psychiatric care differently than they do physicians receiving medical care. In follow-up interviews all 13 indicated that without evidence of impairment or misrepresentation any such sanctioning was likely to be temporary. A significant percentage (37 percent) of states sanction or have the ability to sanction physicians on the basis of information revealed on the licensing application about the presence of a psychiatric condition rather than on the basis of impairment. The same percentage state they treat physicians receiving psychiatric care differently than they do those receiving medical care. Physicians’ perceptions of this apparent discrimination is likely to play a role in their reluctance to seek help for mental health-related conditions. Suggestions are made for how SMBs and state physician health programs and state and county medical societies might collaborate in ways that while protecting patients decreases barriers to physicians help seeking.

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Anti-stigma interventions

Oxford Textbook of Public Mental Health ◽

10.1093/med/9780198792994.003.0044 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 411-420

Author(s):

Petra C. Gronholm ◽

Claire Henderson ◽

Tanya Deb ◽

Graham Thornicroft

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Intervention Development ◽

Outcome Data ◽

Short Term ◽

People With Mental Illness ◽

Related Stigma ◽

Health Related

There is a rich literature on the nature of mental health-related stigma and the processes by which it severely affects the life chances of people with mental health problems. Applying this knowledge to deliver and evaluate interventions to reduce stigma in a lasting way is, however, a complex and long-term challenge. This chapter outlines how mental health-related stigma and discrimination have been defined; describes the negative impact they have on people with mental illness; summarizes anti-stigma strategies and the evidence regarding their effectiveness; and makes suggestions for future intervention development and evaluation. It seems likely that short-term interventions may only have a short-term impact, with the implication being the need to study longer-term interventions and to use interim process and outcome data to improve interventions along the way.

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Why Mental Health–Related Stigma Matters for Physician Wellbeing, Burnout, and Patient Care

Journal of General Internal Medicine ◽

10.1007/s11606-019-05173-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 35 (5) ◽

pp. 1579-1581 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Hae Lin Cho ◽

Caroline J. Huang

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Patient Care ◽

Related Stigma ◽

Health Related

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Effects of education and social contact on mental health-related stigma among high-school students

Psychiatry Research ◽

10.1016/j.psychres.2019.112581 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 281 ◽

pp. 112581 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mariangela Lanfredi ◽

Ambra Macis ◽

Clarissa Ferrari ◽

Luciana Rillosi ◽

Elena Cadone Ughi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

Social Contact ◽

School Students ◽

Related Stigma ◽

Health Related

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The “Gray Zone” of Police Work During Mental Health Encounters

Police Quarterly ◽

10.1177/1098611116658875 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 81-105 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Jennifer D. Wood ◽

Amy C. Watson ◽

Anjali J. Fulambarker

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Decision Making ◽

Police Officers ◽

Police Work ◽

Mental Illnesses ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Gray Zone ◽

Police Responses ◽

Health Related ◽

Core Features

Although improving police responses to mental health crises has received significant policy attention, most encounters between police and persons with mental illnesses do not involve major crimes or violence nor do they rise to the level of emergency apprehension. Here, we report on field observations of police officers handling mental health-related encounters in Chicago. Findings confirm these encounters often occur in the “gray zone,” where the problems at hand do not call for formal or legalistic interventions. In examining how police resolved such situations, we observed three core features of police work: (a) accepting temporary solutions to chronic vulnerability, (b) using local knowledge to guide decision making, and (c) negotiating peace with complainants and call subjects. Findings imply the need to advance field-based studies using systematic social observations of gray zone decision making within and across distinct geographic and place-based contexts. Policy implications for supporting police interventions are also discussed.

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